Some Kind Of Crazyনমুনা

Grace Overflowing

Psalm 23 offers another table image that has become very meaningful to me. I remember the day I first got lost in Psalm 23. I was praying through a valley of sadness in my life, but the phrase “The Lord is my shepherd” was drawing me into the heart of Christ.

I imagined Jesus setting a rich table in front of all the people who had screamed that I was not enough. Watching him pull out a chair, I smiled when he invited me to sit down with no questions asked. Not once did he bring up my past or ask about my accomplishments. Neither was he curious about my most recent failure. He simply invited me to sit at his table. 

Holding a cup in his hand, he asked if I was thirsty. When I nodded, he took a pitcher of wine and began to pour. I expected him to stop once the wine had filled the cup, but Jesus kept pouring as it spilled over the lip of the cup, staining the tablecloth, dripping down on the ground, and saturating the soil beneath my feet. 

Looking into his eyes, I saw joy. Jesus was showing me the scandalous generosity of kingdom grace—abundant, overflowing, extravagant, unthinkable, and incomparable. That’s when I heard words that sealed the truth in my heart about what it’s like to sit forever at the table of the Lord: This type of goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life, and you will rest here forever because this is your home, my son.

And so I drank. Not at a time when everyone was celebrating me. Not because of anything I could offer. I drank that cup when my life was upside down and I didn’t know if I would ever breathe another sane breath…and all of a sudden the wine Jesus poured for me was the promise of God. 

How might your actions or thoughts change if you believed that Jesus offers you abundant grace and love, no matter what? Why?