Jesus’ dined with all sorts of people. Through his practice, he taught sinners and saints about the kingdom of God.
Today, discover one way to adjust your mealtime prayers to follow His example.
Jesus accepted all types of dinner invitations.
- Disciples | He went to Matthew’s house to celebrate his decision to follow him as a disciple (Mt 9:9-17).
- Pharisees | Jesus dined with Simon the Pharisee, where he taught him a few lessons about hospitality and forgiveness (Lk 7:36-50).
- Casual Get Togethers | He dined regularly with his friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary (Lk 10:38-42).
- Important Occasions | Jesus shared his last meal with his closest circle of followers, the apostles, where he washed their feet and comforted them about what would happen next (Jn 13:11-17:26).
- Strangers | After his resurrection, he ate dinner with two men he met on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:28-32).
- Friends and Followers | Finally, before his ascension to heaven, he shared a meal with seven of his apostles on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (Jn 21:1-23).
How did he start each meal?
“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.”
(Matthew 14:19, NIV)
Before eating, Jesus offered a blessing to his Father in heaven.
Assuming he used the common Jewish blessing, the prayer would be something like this: “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who bringest forth bread from the earth.” Notice that Jesus did not bless the food, he blessed God.
Put it into practice.
Update your mealtime blessing | Before you dig in, be sure to bless God before thanking Him for his provision of food.
Jesus never missed an opportunity to tell people the good news about the kingdom of God, often at the dinner table, and we shouldn’t either.
