Daily Devotions
On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines. Isaiah 25:6
Cookouts are very popular in America these days. Almost every backyard has some sort of grill. Fathers bend over glowing charcoal as they wear a chef’s hat and apron. Isaiah 25 describes heaven as a cookout on a mountain, with God spreading out a wondrous feast complete with the best of meats and the finest of wines. Do you have time for God’s cookout?
The description of choice meats sounds inviting, but only if you are hungry. Many don’t have time for God’s cookout. They are busy tending to their jobs, getting promotions, paying bills, going on vacations, fishing, boating, and golfing. They just don’t have time for heaven. Is that your problem? Could it be that you really aren’t hungry enough for God? Full of hamburger, one doesn’t have room for even the tastiest steak. Full of ourselves, we may not be hungry for God and His love.
When we live only to satisfy our whims, we discover that everything tastes flat. Even the finest wine and filet mignon fail to satisfy. Spacious swimming pools and growing bank accounts do not satisfy. Selfishness is sin, and the wages of sin is death. When we seriously probe our lives, we admit our growing hunger for God.
And He fills us. He sent His only Son to fast 40 days in the wilderness and to drink the bitter cup of suffering by dying on the cross. By His death Jesus invites us to attend God’s great cookout in heaven, freely and without charge. He not only invites us but encourages us to invite others as well.
Thank about these things the next time you are gathered with your family in the backyard for a cookout.
PRAYER: Thank You Lord Jesus for inviting us to attend the great cookout in heaven. Amen.
(Devotions from “My Daily Devotion” by Dr. Stephen J. Carter, copyright 1988 CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one time emailing of this link to a friend. For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit www.cph.org.)