DO YOU SIT OR STAND?

Yesterday we talked about having order at our table. Part of keeping order at the table is training our children to sit at the table. Often, that is easier said than done! It takes training. Everything to do with raising children is training, isn’t it?

Mother, you are a trainer, among the 101 other things you do as a professional mother.

Is it important to train our children to sit? Yes, God thinks it is important. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

In 1 Samuel 20 we read the story of where King Saul was jealous of David and wanted to kill him. David and Jonathan made a plan that David would not come to the meal table and wait to see what King Saul would do.

That night the king sat down to eat. Let’s see how they sat at their meal table. 1 Samuel 20:25 (NET) says: “The king sat down in his USUAL PLACE by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him and Abner at Saul’s side. But David’s place was vacant.” Do you notice how everyone had their assigned seats? I think this can be a good thing. Often, we let our children sit anywhere at the table, but sometimes that can end in fights because one wants to sit on a certain seat and another sibling is vying for that seat.

We notice that they sat down for their meal. We also notice that each person was expected to be at the table for the evening meal. Verse 20 says: ‘The second day, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, ‘Why has Jesse’s son not come to the meal yesterday or today?’”

We go to the New Testament ad read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men, plus others. We notice that before Jesus gave thanks to His Father and fed this multitude, He first “COMMANDED them to make all SIT DOWN by companies upon the green grass. And they SAT DOWN in ranks” (Mark 6:39).

Matthew and Mark both used the word “commanded.” Mark, Luke, and John use the words “MAKE THEM SIT DOWN . . .” I am sure that took some doing with all those thousands of people. But Jesus would not feed the people until they were seated, and seated in companies, not just “any old how.”

Do you notice that He told them to “MAKE them sit down”? Do you have to do this at your table? You have to MAKE your children sit down! Don’t despair. You’re being very biblical! But as we teach them from little ones, they learn the habit.

And it is a good habit. When you eat standing or walking around you are usually doing something else at the same time and don’t really remember that you’ve eaten. You may become hungrier sooner.

But the main reason is that God intends us to sit while we eat is because eating is more than consuming food. God wants us to eat and fellowship. To sit down together and dialogue and communicate. And as we do this we get more nutritional value from our food.

Make it a habit to all sit together at your table. We also take this concept into the spiritual realm. Ephesians 2:6 says that God has “raised us up together, and MADE US SIT TOGETHER in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Be blessed,

Nancy Campbell