Pondering Life : Pursuing God

“Come, have breakfast,” Jesus said to them.

None of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord.

John 21:12

John 21:12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine.

In these words the believer is invited to a holy nearness to Jesus. “Come and dine,” implies the same table, the same meat; aye, and sometimes it means to sit side by side, and lean our head upon the Saviour’s bosom. It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where waves the banner of redeeming love. “Come and dine,” gives us a vision of union with Jesus, because the only food that we can feast upon when we dine with Jesus is himself. Oh, what union is this! It is a depth which reason cannot fathom, that we thus feed upon Jesus. “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.” It is also an invitation to enjoy fellowship with the saints. Christians may differ on a variety of points, but they have all one spiritual appetite; and if we cannot all feel alike, we can all feed alike on the bread of life sent down from heaven. At the table of fellowship with Jesus we are one bread and one cup. As the loving cup goes round we pledge one another heartily therein. Get nearer to Jesus, and you will find yourself linked more and more in spirit to all who are like yourself, supported by the same heavenly manna. If we were more near to Jesus we should be more near to one another.

We likewise see in these words the source of strength for every Christian. To look at Christ is to live, but for strength to serve him you must “come and dine.” We labor under much unnecessary weakness on account of neglecting this percept of the Master. We none of us need to put ourselves on low diet; on the contrary, we should fatten on the marrow and fatness of the gospel that we may accumulate strength therein, and urge every power to its full tension in the Master’s service. Thus, then, if you would realize nearness to Jesus, union with Jesus, love to his people and strength from Jesus, “come and dine” with Him by faith.

Charles Spurgeon

Related select passages

And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. / They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Matthew 14:19-20

Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst

John 6:35

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.” / Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. / This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins

Matthew 26:26-29

My Pondering

It’s been well said that if we eat of the Word just once a week when we go to church on Sunday, it makes a believer weak. We eat food daily. Most eat 2 or 3 meals per day plus snacks. Let’s stay strong by eating of the Word similarly. Here is a good guide.

On the contrary, there are also times to fast and deprive ourselves of physical food so that our bodies become weak and our spirit hungers for the bread of righteousness and the wine of forgiveness.

I am in the habit of saying grace and a blessing before each meal. It helps me keep an attitude of gratitude for the provision yet it’s also a good time to think about Jesus often and I think these scriptures are helpful to connect to God as we eat and dine and have our breakfast.