Part 2 of 5 — The TABLE Series
This is Part 2 of five posts on TABLE — a simple rhythm for living the way Jesus lived, built around people already in your life. It’s rooted in what Ellen White called “Christ’s method alone” for reaching people: He mingled with them, sympathized with them, ministered to their needs, won their confidence, and only then said, “Follow Me” (Ministry of Healing, p. 143 — please verify wording). Each post covers one letter — Table (eat), Abide (pray), Bless (serve), Listen (notice), Encounter (be ready) — and you can read them in any order.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:5). Everything else in this series depends on this one. Table, Bless, Listen, Encounter — none of it holds up if this rhythm isn’t underneath it.
We need to remember these aren’t magic methods for growing a church. The church isn’t ours, and it’s Christ who makes it grow (Matthew 16). We make disciples, but the same way Jesus sent His disciples, He has to send us. That work only happens by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world, but not before they received the power of the Spirit (Acts 1:4, 8). We need the Spirit to be sent to bless and eat with the people God wants us to reach. He decides how and when His work gets done — our job is to be available and sensitive to His voice so He can use us.
Philip received the order: “Go over and join this chariot” — this was about the Ethiopian who was passing by in his chariot, reading Isaiah 53. Philip simply obeyed, and the account tells us the Ethiopian accepted Christ and was baptized. Philip was ready to hear and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit. How can we become sensitive to the Spirit’s voice? By going deeper into God’s Word and spending time in prayer. We see this in Jesus’s own example — He often spent the whole night praying. If Jesus, who was without sin, immersed Himself in Scripture and spent that much time in prayer, how much more do we, poor sinners, need that kind of deep communion. That communion puts us in a direct line with heaven, and gives us the conviction that it’s the Lord sending us.
Every day, just like Christ, we need to spend time in prayer and Bible study. Intentionality is the key, because the tasks of daily life take over, and communion with God is often the first thing pushed aside. I prefer my time of communion in the early morning, while everyone else is still asleep — before dawn, receiving His Word and talking with Him in prayer, in a meeting that feels like just the two of us. That may work for you, or it may not — if it doesn’t, put it on your calendar, as important as any appointment or work meeting, and keep the visit with God. The Holy Spirit is given to those who really want Him and cry out for Him (Luke 11). Be intentional, and share the experience with your accountability group. The way we pray changes too — we pray intentionally for God to send us to be a blessing to someone.
Reaching people always requires a deep relationship with the One we’re presenting and lifting up before them — Jesus Christ. Relating intimately with Christ asks a little more of us — an intentionality about seeking Him directly in the Gospels. When Jesus met Nicodemus, He said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). He was referring to the moment Israel was dying from a snake infestation in their desert camp because of their complaining. God in His mercy told Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole, and said that anyone who was bitten and looked at it would live (Numbers 21:9). Life was given to whoever simply looked. God didn’t command anyone to believe or profess their faith first — just look, and live. What Jesus tells Nicodemus is that life is found in looking at Christ. Believing comes as a consequence, a gift from God. Faith in Christ isn’t something we manufacture in ourselves — God gives it as a gift. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). What we can do is look at Christ, contemplate His beauty, goodness, and love, and He will place faith in our hearts. Spending time reading the Gospels is one of the best ways to look at Christ and receive His transformation.
After I read the Bible, I always go to one of the Gospels and read a story or two. I sit with the story and pray for the Spirit to show me what He wants me to learn from it. I ask first to see Christ clearly in it. I put myself inside the story, two thousand years back, as if I were part of the crowd, or one of the disciples, or someone Jesus healed — or maybe someone who was passing through and didn’t receive healing. I think through the possibilities, use my imagination, and tell Jesus what I’m thinking and feeling.
I like keeping a journal where I write down my thoughts, but also talk with Jesus about what I just read. Sometimes it’s a serious, deep conversation. Sometimes it’s light and funny. Have you ever laughed with Jesus? If He’s really your friend, don’t you think you should have some fun moments with Him? Do you have a close friend you’ve never laughed with? Of course not — what a flat friendship that would be. If you know me, you know I like to joke around — why would I be serious with Him all the time?
You’ll only get these good moments with Him, and reach that kind of closeness, if there’s intentionality in the relationship with Jesus every day. And when you witness to someone about Jesus, you’ll be able to talk about a Friend, not a doctrine. Doctrine matters, but it only makes sense if you have a personal, deep relationship with the Author of it. You’ll be able to talk about an experience, not just a theory — and that’s what you’ll need when the door opens to share Christ.
Next: Bless — the rhythm of giving without expecting anything back.
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