The Master's Table

Dallas and Maddy inseparable

I think I have two great dogs.  One may be one of the best dogs in the world. The other does exactly what she is supposed to do.  Dallas, our forty-five pound Slick Haired Border Collie. Yeah, I know, you are saying “what kind of dog”?  Dallas is a rescue dog that Landall got in while in college and we ended up with.  She was a puppy and he didn’t have the time or space to keep her from chewing up his life belongings.  For years the vets would categorize her as a Lab mix.  I couldn’t argue except that I knew she did not have a lab head, could not stand the water and wanted to constantly herd me and Debbie into the same room.  But, what did I know.  Finally one vet said she may have something else in her but not much, she is a Slick Haired Border Collie.  He told us to look it up on the net and sure enough, if she had papers we would be showing her!  Here is what a Slick Haired Border looks like.

Our other dog is a Biewer Yorkie (sounds like beaver and is a full blood Yorkie that has been bred to have white in their coat) given to us by a friend.  She is a sweet dog with all the idiosyncrasies of a small dog.  But, when she curls up in your lap she melts your heart.

Ok, why am I talking about my dogs?  Because, they are very important to me and Debbie.  And, because while watching them at dinner tonight they reminded me of an important lesson.  Both of them eat dry dog food but have been known to accept a handout from the table.  They don’t bark at you, and they would never (well, never say never) take food off the table themselves.  But they will sit next to your chair and stare at you with longing eyes.  Dallas will even put her chin in your lap and the longer you ignore her the heavier she will let her head get.  They usually win.

The lesson I got from this was that even though they might not get anything they have learned if they wait patiently the chances of them receiving something from the “master’s table” is pretty good.  And they will wait, and wait and wait and be rewarded.

Daily we sit at the Master’s table.  Do we expect to be blessed?  Do we wait patiently until that prize is offered to us for our patience? Or, do we get discouraged and walk away from  the table.  In fact we have it better than Dallas and Maddy.  We do not have to wait on the floor but have a seat at the table.  God’s banquet is not just about some tomorrow, like the Kingdom of God it is here and now.  The poet of the Song of Solomon in 2:4 says "He brought me to the banquet house,and his banner over me was love.”   

Do you realize the banner of love that has been spread over you?  We can choose to enjoy the present banquet, or we can choose to ignore it and find every reason to be discouraged and bitter.  The choice is yours, you have the invitation.