A Meal Together

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have been thinking some about two moments from my early years. In 1994 I lived in Palestine, Texas, and received an invitation from Mom Brown. She was the mother of my mom’s high school friend, but after her daughter passed she became a bonus part of our family. She gave me a Bible when I graduated high school, and that gift stirred the desire in me to learn about Christ. I drove fto Diboll to spend Thanksgiving with her. It was just the two of us. We ate, talked, remembered, and she sent me home with more food than I could carry. That table shaped me.

In 1998 I had a very different Thanksgiving. I managed to accept three invitations in one day. A friendsgiving in the afternoon. Dinner with the Flowers. A late meal with the Renfrows. I do not think I could move much afterward. Three tables in one day, each one marked by welcome, humor, and kindness. Those meals taught me something about how God works through the ordinary. (And maybe three in a day was toooo much.)

Stories like these prepare us to see the meals in Scripture with fresh eyes. Working through them again reminded me how often God meets His people at the table. God uses the table to teach, nourish, and renew His people. In the wilderness, Israel received manna in Exodus 16. That bread trained them to trust God each day. At the Passover in Exodus 12 they marked their deliverance with a meal that proclaimed God’s power to save. In the ministry of Jesus, meals become places of welcome and revelation. He breaks bread with tax collectors and sinners in Matthew 9. He feeds the crowds in John 6. At the Passover table in Matthew 26 He gives thanks before breaking bread and speaks of a new covenant. The earliest Christians follow this pattern in Acts 2 as they gather to break bread with glad and sincere hearts.

Thanksgiving gives us space to reflect on this long thread. A meal is never only a meal. It becomes a moment where God invites His people to remember His works, receive His care, and practice grace toward one another. As you gather this week, let the table remind you that God has always fed His people in ways that draw them closer to Him. May this celebration deepen your trust in the God who provides and the Savior who welcomes us to His table.

~PW 🌮🛶

A Survey of Meals in Scripture and Their Theological Significance