We’ve Lost the Table — And With It, Something Vital

We’ve Lost the Table — And With It, Something Vital

For the last two years, this burden has been growing in me.

The issue is not new. It is ancient.

From the very beginning, God has tested His people’s hearts through their appetites — what they crave and what they give Him first.

In the Garden, Eve’s appetite led her to disobey (Genesis 3:6). Cain held back his best from God while Abel gave the fat portions (Genesis 4:4). Isaac was ruled by his craving for tasty food (Genesis 27:4). Eli’s sons stole the best portions of the offering that belonged to God, treating the Lord’s offering with contempt (1 Samuel 2:17).

This same struggle continued into the New Testament. The apostles appointed deacons to serve at the tables with integrity — the very thing Eli’s sons had failed to do. One of those deacons, Stephen, was so filled with the Spirit that even though his role was practical service, he preached with such power that the religious leaders could not withstand him (Acts 6:10).

God’s people have always struggled to give Him the first and the best.

And we are still struggling today.

Only now the battle looks different. We have engineered food to hijack our appetites more powerfully than ever before. We’ve created endless distractions that compete for our attention. We sit at tables with our families and our church family, yet we are rarely present — staring at our phones instead of communing with one another.

We are not giving God our best. We are giving Him our leftovers — whatever attention, affection, and appetite we have left after we’ve fed our distractions.

This is not simply a modern problem. It is the same ancient battle wearing new clothes.

The question we must wrestle with is this: If we are no longer giving God the first and best of our table, our time, or our attention, then what exactly *are* we giving Him first?

Until we deal honestly with what rules our appetites, we will remain stuck in this perpetual cycle.

It’s time we give God our first and our best — not our leftovers.