Two Very Different Banquets

"A man had a dream and in the dream he was taken to the portals of hell...he was intercepted by two ghoulish emissaries, who led him to a large banquet room. The room was darkly lit...with sounds of cursing and fighting. At the center of the room stood a long banquet table spread with the finest meal he could possibly imagine. Through the misty candlelight he saw hundreds and hundreds of waif-like creatures...surrounding the table and trying to eat. Upon closer examination, he saw that the utensils they were using extended about 6 inches beyond their arms. Every time they attempted to shovel spoonfuls of turkey dressing into their mouths, they couldn't manipulate the spoons beyond a certain point...And there they just sat. Unable to eat any food, they were wasting away in an infinite agony of starvation.

The man found himself suddenly transported to heaven. He stood before heaven's hotel, which was grander than the Taj Mahal...more elegant than any palace he had ever seen...two men in dazzling apparel met him and escorted him to the banquet hall. There he found a room gloriously lit, stretching far into the distance with a banquet table spread out before him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were using the same kind of utensils he had seen in hell...the difference, though, was that the creatures, instead of trying in vain to feed themselves, would take forkfuls of food and gently feed the creatures seated right across the table.

The moral of the story is obvious: As they gave, each one was nourished."

As we continue through this Christmas season, let's never forget that our God is a giving God and he has called us to give to others. In this way we will all experience his blessing!

Quoted from I Am by Steve Fry