Come and Eat

 

 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. ~John 21:12

I love birds; watching birds, listening to birds, reading about birds, and trying to photograph them with my phone camera (not very successful). The other day as I was out walking, I heard a bird song from my childhood. "Come and eaat! Come and eaaat!" I can only remember hearing it in back-off-the-road places in early spring and summer mornings. Funny how sounds can jog a memory and take you back sixty years.

My grandparents rented half of a shotgun house way back off the road. The house had no running water and barely any electricity. Their back stoop was a couple of rock slabs stacked for steps. We'd sit and talk or whittle or just sit and listen. I'd hear the little birds sing, "Come and eaat!" Grandma always kept the cookie jar full. There would always be the smell of potatoes boiling down dry, almost stuck in the butter. Chicken frying at her house always seemed to carry the invitation to come and eat. The trip to Grandma's was two doors down a path along a barbed-wire fence. Whether the snow was piling in over the top of my little cowboy boots or daffodils blooming along the path I knew there would be the invitation to come and eat. 

Our Heavenly Father extends the invitation to come and eat. All we have to do is turn off the TV, put down the phone and open up his word. He has a table spread. Knock and he'll open the door for you. Jesus invites us to come and dine. Taste and see that the Lord is good. 

My grandparents didn't have a TV. They didn't have a phone. But they opened the word of God daily and spoke to the Father regularly. They knew how to have company, make you feel at home,  without technology. 

I used a little technology today. I thought what bird is most commonly associated with spring? A robin? So I searched for the American Robin bird song.  After all these years I finally knew what bird was making that inviting sound. I had seen it in my yard all my life. I had heard it all my life. Is Jesus calling to you to come and eat? Has your Bible lain unopened all week, waiting for Sunday? Have you forgotten to open your heart in prayer?  Just like the robin still calls us to come and eat, so the Master still calls us to come and dine. 

Take time to open up God's word today and feast at the table He spreads for you, for us. 

Come and eat.

Father, help us quiet ourselves from the noises calling around us that we might hear Your voice calling to us to open Your word and feast on Your precious promises. Help us interact in prayer with the one who has the table spread. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Hey Kids: 

Have you read My Spring Robin by Anne Rockwell? A child searches for the robin she sees each spring until she hears the robin's song. 

There are lots of books about birds for children as young as four and as old as one hundred and four. There are also lots of ways to look for signs of spring. One of my favorite nature study websites is Wonder-filled days. 

Be amazed this spring with all the things God has made to remind us of what a good and gracious God his is.