A Table and Chair
Devotion
August 2003
I want to tell you a story about a chair and a table.
The chair is the one my Grandfather used to sit in before he died. It was not a lot to look at but it was a good memory for me. He used to hold me on his lap and tell me stories. Stories about fishing, hunting, camping. Stories about little boys like me who used to go out into the woods looking for buried treasure. Stories about finding it. I spent many hours in his lap or at his feet listening to him talk. I can still smell his aftershave and the faint smell of a cigar once in a while (when my Grandmother wasn’t looking). You can imagine that this chair was special to me but that chair is gone.
The table was the one that sat in my Grandmother’s dining room. It was a big long table with at least 3 leaves that could be added to make room for the whole family. Grandma, Grandpa, mom, dad, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters. The whole family. We would gather a couple of times a year to celebrate being a family. Thanksgiving. Turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, chicken and dumplings, lime pickles, squirrel, rabbit (we used to hunt on Thanksgiving day with our Grandfather), wonderful yeast rolls, homemade candy, and countless other things that were wonderful to eat. The table was surrounded by all of these folks and laden down with all of that food and my Grandfather would quietly say “Let us give thanks”. We would all get quiet and he would ask our Father in heaven to watch over us, ask Him to bless our food and the time we had together and then the noise level would rise as we laughed, talked and ate. You didn’t want to ask my uncles to ‘pass’ the rolls’ cause they would. From one end of the table to the other in a single toss. A great time. That table is gone now too.
I was just listening to the news reports about the building that houses a shop that refinishes antiques. The reporter talked about the people that came to watch their possessions burn and how they are frantic to try and save them.
The story reads in part:
Damage from a three alarm fire in an Atlanta strip mall could run into the millions of dollars. Dozens of small business were destroyed or seriously damaged in the Friday morning fire. Owners of adjacent shops showed up at the scene after hearing about the fire. Antique dealer Gradon Lisenby’s business was damaged. Lisenby was supposed to work on Friday starting at 11 a.m. We’re all determined to start over and go from there, because I’m not giving up,” Lisenby said. Dealers say a lot of fine furniture and paintings were lost in the fire. More than 150 dealers used space in the buildings and will face a huge loss. “Unfortunately, they operate on a small scale and the insurance is cost-prohibitive. And most of them do not carry insurance. So, this will be a large loss for a lot of people,” Robert Ahlers, owner of Cache’ said. Ahlers hopes to relocate his dealers to a second store. “I’m still a little bit in shock,” Ahlers said. “There are a lot of good people affiliated with the business. Fortunately, no one was injured, and that’s what’s really the most important.”
Now I want to tell you about another chair. This one will not be destroyed by fire. It is the throne of God and He sits on it and tells us to come up on His lap. To sit at His feet while he tell us stories about the people whom He loves. Those that gave up everything to be with Him. Stories about those of His children who would not deny the glory of the Lord so that others might believe in Him and be saved. So that those children could live forever with us when we get to heaven. That is a chair worth replacing the one my Grandfather sat in. In fact, I will be able to sit with my Grandfather at the feet of the one who loves us.
And the table; This table will be even bigger than my Grandmothers cause it will be big enough to hold everyone at the wedding feast of the lamb. We are all invited to the feast if we believe in Christ for our salvation. All your family who believe. Grandmother, Grandfather, Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters. All of them. Our friends. Bikers we have shared with who acted on what they heard. Can you picture the scene? We are all seating at the table and it is loaded with food that is beyond our imagination here on earth. But the food is not the thing I want you to focus on. Focus on the people. They are all that is left of the earth. What remains beyond the people is all going to burn up. Just like in that fire and if your friends are not at the table they are going to be cast in to the lake of fire. Not a pleasant thought is it? Do you love them enough to tell them? Tell them again and again even if they don’t want to hear it because you love them. Are you afraid you are going to scare them off? Offend them? Just tell them so they can be at the feast with you and with our Savior Jesus Christ.
I don’t want to have you lose hope for them but I want to have you understand the consequences if they say no, or if they have not heard. Just tell them. That is our job. The Holy Spirit will use our work to do His work. To convict, to draw, to save. Just love them in the Kingdom and to the table. To the throne of God.
Jerry Robertson
Chaplain CMA Crossties