Your Place Is Set

            

T

hanksgiving morning, my telephone rang at 6:45 a.m. Now, I am a heavy sleeper so I wasn't sure if the phone was real or if I was having a dream. After a few more rings, however, I determined that the phone was indeed real and I needed to answer it. Slowly I ascended into consciousness, rolled over, picked up the phone, fumbled with the talk button, and said "Hello”. The voice on the other end of the line greeted me with a hearty "Happy Thanksgiving!" It was my dad. He called to wish me a very happy holiday.

My mom was in the kitchen making the final preparations for her Thanksgiving meal. Everyone in my immediate family was going to be there, except for me.  Dad informed me, however, that I had not been left out or forgotten. Earlier, mom had set the dining room table and she set a place for me. Although we are separated by over one thousand miles, to mom and dad I was present at today's meal. The place setting at my chair spoke to that fact.

After our brief talk, I hung up the phone and lay back on the bed. I replayed the conversation I had just had with my dad several times in my head. One image kept coming into view, that place setting at my chair.

My parents missed me; and they knew I wanted to be there. However, the distance between us didn't prevent them from setting a place for me. It didn't stop them from considering me to be present with them, it didn't lessen their love for me, and it didn't make me any less their son. In fact, by placing the silverware and the plate on the table, they demonstrated that my presence is always with them, no matter where I happen to be.

Paul underscores the idea that from God's perspective we are already in Heaven with him, now! Ephesians 2:4-6 states, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."

There are three things we need to see in regards to this passage of Scripture. First, God loved us long before we came to love him. Before the foundation of the earth was laid, God made provision for mankind to be reunited with him. God's love spanned the great distance that separated us from him and he made a way for us to return home, to be with him eternally.

Second, we are dead in sin, separated from God. We cannot come into his presence, we cannot approach his throne, and we cannot have a relationship with him until we accept Jesus as our savior.  Just as God made Christ alive and raised him from the dead, so too are we alive because we have accepted Christ's death as the only means of salvation.

Third, we sit in heavenly places now. In essence, God has set a place for us at his table.  There is no distance too great, no obstacle too large, and no situation so dire that can keep us from being God's children. We are his, with the full right to eat at his table. His love is for us and his desire to be with us is so strong, that he sets a place for us at his table in advance of our arrival.  

My dad called that morning because he wanted me to know that he was thinking of me.   No matter where I am, nothing will ever be able to separate me from my mom, dad, brother, and sister. I was present at the holiday meal just as surely as if I had been there in person.

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he spiritual application is just as real. Although we are not physically with God at this time, one day we will be.   He welcomes us into His presence, He showers us with His blessings, and He makes room for us at His table. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, this invitation to dine at God's table is open and available to you. I am so glad that my place is already set. How about you?  Is there a place reserved for you at God’s dinner table?