A Place At The Table

"You don't have to fight for a place at the table."

Such a simple phrase, but a beautiful reminder that there is no partiality with God.

You know that feeling when someone forgets to invite you somewhere? Or when you're meeting friends at a restaurant and you get to the table, and no one saved you a seat? It's awkward and uncomfortable and makes you wonder in the back of your head why no one thought of you.

I think sometimes it can feel like we have to fight to earn a place or even just stay in someone's life. And because we as humans are flawed, people can leave us broken, hurt, and feeling like we're not enough.

Something I've grown to appreciate is that where people lack, God does not. We have to be careful not to let the brokenness of human love stain the image of God's love. His love is not fractured or flawed. He is always paying attention to us, and we are never forgotten by Him.

And despite the number of people on this earth, we never have to fight to be better than the next person to earn God's love. What a relief, right? The love of God is incomprehensible and limitless. Where He loves one person, His love for another doesn't suffer or fade.

Personally, I find that's where I find myself falling short. As a human being, I have such a limited capacity to love in comparison to God. It's easy to love some people and not so easy for others. In devoting love and attention to one person, another relationship might suffer unintentionally because of my limited capacity. But in recognizing this, I never want to use this as an excuse not to love people. Instead of accepting this as an inevitable flaw, instead of being satisfied with where I'm at now... I want to grow and expand my capacity to love and give of myself more fully.

Whatever our flaws may be, we serve a God who invites us to know Him and sit at His table despite those flaws. We don't have to fight for a place there because He overlooked our invitation or wants to see who who is most deserving...

He has invited us to His table on purpose and has already saved us a seat.