Come Full, Come Empty
You prepare a table before me … Psalm 23:5a NIV
Every morning God invites you to his table. Beckoning you to join him, he spreads a lavish feast before you—everything needed to start your day well. His table is layered with blessing, mercy, forgiveness, and grace. Bowls overflow with wisdom, guidance, and peace. The centerpiece is love. And it’s all for you. You have a standing reservation. No need to wonder if a seat will be available. There is one that says “reserved” and is inscribed with your name.
God has prepared a table for you. Are you bounding to the table each morning, open and eager to receive all God has for you? Or is something holding you back?
As soon as the first morning light glints into your eye, do you sense a knapsack of burdens strapped to your back? Turning in bed you can almost feel the shifting of rocks from one side of your body to the other. You wake up full—full of cares and concerns. Weighed down by difficulties, obligations, sadness, or busyness.
Or maybe you wake up feeling utterly empty. Your meter is in the red zone—you’ve got nothing left. You can’t imagine what you will say or do when you sit down with God or even why He would want to be with you.
I wonder if the ancient Israelites felt the same way.
“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket … I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:6, 10 NIV
Psalm 81 is a celebratory hymn sung during a God ordained religious feast. The people gather. Musicians begin to play their instruments. Priests sound the trumpets. The Name of the Lord is lifted high in a symphony of praise when God breaks in with a message; “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were freed from the basket …” As if he can read their minds (which he can), God interrupts their celebration to remind them that they are free. He rescued them from captivity and redeemed them from slavery. They no longer wear the heavy yoke of oppression. They no longer hoist a burden imposed by a heavy-handed task master. They are no longer in bondage to Egyptian slave drivers—or to anyone else. They are free! Free to come to the table of plenty unencumbered.
He goes on to assure them that he alone is the One who can truly fill their every need and desire. “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”
So how does God feel when we approach the lush table of blessing and provision he spreads before us every day shifting our burdens from one shoulder to the other, bowed down by the weight of our cares, or lost in our emptiness? He knows we will carry stuff. And he knows we will be depleted from time to time. How can we not be? But just like he lifted the burden from the enslaved Israelites and freed their hands from brick laden baskets, he has freed us too. (2 Corinthians 3:17; John 8:36) He has liberated us forever from sin and death. The rocks in our backpacks lie scattered at the foot of the cross, covered in the blood of Jesus. We are emancipated from the weight of sin and death.
All that stuff we carry each day? He wants to free us from those rocks, too. He wants to carry them for us. God invites us to come to the table full. So, bring your burdens, it’s a good place to put them in his hands. (1 Peter 5:7)
And just like he promised to provide everything the Israelites needed, he has given you everything you need, too! (2 Peter 1:3) God invites you to come to the table empty. He has promised to feed you, fill you, and be all you need. (John 15:5) You only need to come.
What burdens do you need to release into God’s hands today?
Ask him to help you bring them to the table.
Do you trust God to fill you in every way?
If yes, ask him to show you where you are depleted today and to fill you afresh.
If no, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what is preventing you from trusting God to provide all you need and to grow your ability to trust him.