The Father's Table

"Meat is meant to be consumed at the table with the Father, who also dines there. It is the Father's table, and it is the Father's sufficiency that holds all things together."

I CAN WALK IN AND OUT of a room on repeat and not see certain things in it. I am notoriously slow to notice subtle changes. When the apostle preached to the Hebrews on maturing in their faith, he said they continuously needed milk and could not yet eat meat. He was nonplussed with them, as we might say in the South. They should have grown to the point of knowing their salvation well enough to use it properly. In this, he was not referring simply to personality traits, as my habit of non-discovery. There are things we do because they are simply part of who we are. But these were things the people needed to grow out of. Instead of going over the same foundations again and again, they should exercise their salvation and learn discernment.

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

He was not discouraging the church from reinforcing what they knew of things like repentance and faith and baptisms, as he mentions in the next chapter (Hebrews 6:1-2). There are times to remind ourselves of what we know. But on the other extreme, we can fall into nitpicking as well, and instead of the simplicity of the gospel, we are x-ing out every jot and tittle we disagree with in another person’s doctrine. What he wanted of them was growth, for them to know the difference between milk and meat and when each was required.

This is a passage we have read and have not bothered to delve into its depths. The milk of the Word is freely given. The meat of the Word must be acquired. More effort is required to obtain meat from the one seeking it. Whereas milk is produced by the breast and offered to an infant from its mother, meat must be brought from the outside and learned to chew thoroughly. Milk is simply swallowed and received. Meat means our effort is used, both in the acquiring of it and in the chewing. But for both, the body is made to digest it completely. This is God’s design.

Milk comes from the very heart of God. But unfortunately, He sustains many in infancy, who never grow, who refuse to grow. Many others become too self-sufficient. Complete self-sufficiency is not His intent. Meat is meant to be consumed at the table with the Father, who also dines there. It is the Father’s table, and it is the Father’s sufficiency that holds all things together. He is the abundance of all things, and the Spirit of God, freely given to all who would receive Him.

Yet, many are focused solely on the milk and making the least amount of effort to sustain their Christian life. What God is asking is that we would become strong and well-able to feed ourselves. Not so we would turn aside from childlikeness, but so that the child within could be clothed in the man without, and our entire being become like Christ. Some shade their eyes from this truth. They do not wish to look into it and learn. Maturity requires an open heart and a willingness to change our thinking.

By example, in learning, we can compare the grape and the peanut. Both are fruit. The Father made both for consumption. Both are made into various products. Of the peanut, there are many. Which one is more important, but the one which is needed for the situation? The same can be said of the grape. You cannot spread raw peanuts on bread. You cannot snack on peanut butter with the fingertips, not without making a mess. The grape contains seeds which cannot be eaten. The peanut must be boiled or roasted in preparation. One does not eat the peanut from the vine. One does not drink the grape as wine without a process of time. Only then will it obtain its fruitfulness. The peanut will spoil within that same time. Is one correct and the other incorrect? No, they are different, and so knowledge is needed of both.

Learning is the meat of our experience, done independent of the breast but not of the strength which comes from chewing. Success in the belly is found in the chewing. We must know our own level of maturity. Where are we standing right now? We are to begin with milk and learn to eat meat, then learn to prepare it. We are to move from infancy into growth. But not so that we move away from our loving Father. He gave us life, and we require Him in all things. Instead, through our growth, we are able to subsist on meat and find comfort in milk and use our knowledge correctly from a place of subsistence on the Word of God and of dependence upon the Spirit of God. We are to have childlikeness but not childishness, and there is the difference. The joy of a parent is found in the maturity of her children and not their distance. I delight to see my daughter, and my mother delights to see me. But I no longer have to help her walk around, nor have to spoon feed her. She is well able to do so on her own but knows she can return, and I will cook her supper simply because she is mine, and I adore everything about her.

So is our heavenly Father. He desires our growth so that He can pour Himself into us, so that we become usable, dining on the meat He’s prepared and learning to prepare and share it with others on our own, but always remaining aware that He is the reason for it, and He is our greatest happiness in it. So that when we dine at His table, it is His face we are gazing into in greatest gratitude for who we have become.

“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.” (Proverbs 1:8-9)

Photo by Anne Nygård at Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com