Meeting with God

He would go to meet the lowest of the town. He would dwell with tax collectors, rest with fishermen and dine with publicans and sinners.

Christ still invites us to come and commune with him. And in a world where we can so easily become distracted or downhearted, time with Christ is exactly what we need.

Dwelling with the Prophet

“Come and see” (John 1:39)

In this passage, we learn through two disciples of John the Baptist to have a desire to simply dwell with Christ, the one who John pointed out as the Lamb of God. 

“Rabbi … where are you staying?” They asked.

I love Christ’s response: “Come and see.”

These disciples were able to walk and dwell with the Voice of God, the one who walked in the garden of Eden. In contrast, where they went would have been a lowly, humble experience, for Jesus had nowhere to lay His head. Yet, it doesn’t stop there for they dwell together for a whole day.

Imagine spending a whole day with the Prophet, Jesus Christ, learning about the Scriptures. What a blessing, for we can too. 

Through his sacrifice as Lamb of God he has opened a way for us to enter right into the presence of God. The veil in the temple is ‘rent in twain’.  We can now simply come in to dwell with and learn from God. Is it our desire to dwell with Christ for the whole day? For a few hours? 

Resting with the Priest

“Come aside and rest” (Mark 6:31)

After the twelve have come back from labouring for the Lord, we read “the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus”. The disciples knew Christ, and could simply, readily come before Him with supplications. (What a blessing, we can come before our High Priest!)

Christ will intercede for His people and address their needs (What wonderful grace – that Christ intercedes for us!). Christ commands the disciples to come aside and rest. He led them across the sea of Galilee to rest in a quiet place with Him. 

At certain times, after serving, we need to come aside and to rest with the Lord in a quiet place. Christ takes us aside to be refreshed before serving, just as He refreshed the disciples before feeding the 5000. Do we take time to rest in the Lord? So, then we will be refreshed and ready to serve.

Dining with the King

“Come and dine” (John 21:12)

Finally, we read about the risen King who calls the disciples to “come and dine”. This word dine means to simply eat a meal. The disciples were ready and prepared to accept the invite. And they came with gladness and rejoicing.

Would we like Peter, dress ourselves with a right and ready heart, to come and dine with Him?

It is important to come and dine with the Lord every morning. At the start of each day, we need to get our eyes on the Lord, for it is here that we will be refocused in our mission to follow and serve Him the rest of the day.      

It was after breakfast with the Lord that Peter heard Christ’s command: “Follow me.” (v19 & 22), and the call to serve Christ: “feed my sheep” (v16-17). It was also after this time of dining, that Peter got a fresh sight of what he was to do to “glorify God” (v19). 

As we are doing this, we can look forward to that Supper with the King in Revelation 19. For it’ll be a joyful day when we will dress in righteousness, and come with gladness and rejoicing, to dine with the reigning Lamb of God.

So, as the disciples had to be prepared for that meal with Christ, are we prepared to go to that Supper with the King?