The NeighbourhoodSample

DAY 5 - A Seat at the Table

There’s something powerful about having a meal with someone. 

If you look throughout Luke’s Gospel, you can find Jesus either going to a meal, sitting at a meal, or even coming from a meal. Even “The Son of man came eating & drinking.”.

I find it interesting how the Pharisees accused Jesus as being "a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”. It wasn’t just his teachings they outright opposed but rather how much he ate, drank & who he shared his meals with. Zacchaeus is a brilliant example of how inclusive the Gospel is, and Jesus highlights this over a meal.

Food was fundamental to Jesus’ ministry. He changed neighbourhoods over a meal.

Our neighbourhoods are changed not only in meetings, but over meals.

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT):

"We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.”

I want to encourage you today that you can bring change to your neighbourhood simply by having a meal with someone in your neighbourhood. 

We read in Psalm 23:5 that God has invited us to a seat at His table, and now because of this, we can now invite others a seat at our table.

Who has a seat at your table? 

Who can you be a neighbour to, by sitting with them either in your home, or at a restaurant, and share a meal with them?

We need to create spaces for conversation with the people in our neighbourhood by offering them a seat at our table.

My prayer is that this plan would not just be behaviour modification but a true heart transformation. That  we would see our neighbour and bring change to our neighbourhood... one meal at a time.

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Thank you for reading this plan. I want to honour you for committing to this plan. Thank you for the privilege of being able to walk this journey with you in your devotional time.

Questions:

(1) Who is someone you could have a meal with from your neighbourhood? 

(2) What is one takeaway you want to apply from this plan?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus. I pray that you would stir my heart to action to see my neighbour and include those in my world at my table. Thank you for your grace. In Jesus Name. Amen.