The Table

1 Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

The movie The Matrix is one of my all time favorites. There's this provocative secret about our world - the revelation that it's illusory and temporary. Of course, the Bible has exposed this for generations, but this was pop culture, Hollywood, exposing a colossally mind-bending notion, "Hey folks, there's more than meets the eye in the world where we live."

Well, there is a real life matrix and it is our physical world. What we see around us seems so real, but what we don't see is the eternal and permanent presence of a spirit led world that is more real. Unlike the movie, we don't have to be chosen to see it clearly. All that is needed is to open our eyes and hearts, seek, and we will simply become aware that it exists.

Now, much like the concept of the matrix, on earth we are living in two worlds in which there are three tables where everyone is sitting. While we don't physically see them, they are what we do every day. Much in the way a wedding with open seating is set up, we walk in, see what is pleasing to us and then choose. No one leaves the wedding without choosing. There's the table of the Lord, the table of demons, and our own table. No, they have not been planned for us like they are at some weddings. We just go through life, come of age, and choose where we want to be. Our status, race, age, popularity, and gender are not at issue, we just openly choose our seats.

The first table is the Lord's. At this table on earth to the untrained eye it would seem this is the "boring" table. The people who sit here have chosen to let go of their own pursuits, opened their hearts and gotten excited about what the Host will do. They've decided that here they will open their minds to the Host's leading and just let Him entertain them and show them what there is to do. They have done away with what pleases them and their own agenda to see what the Lord has to offer and get full from His feast. They revel in the light of His love. This table is not the most popular or crowded. In fact, on any given day people actually get up and leave to sit at a different table since in the physical world it is difficult to surrender yourself to another entity and allow them carte blanche to have you do their will instead of your own. That's really tough so few choose this table. In contrast, in the spirit world this is the most coveted table of all three. Every spirit to ever come into being who is solely spirit now wishes they had the opportunity to just sit even in the corner. At this table all love, light, hope, peace, and joy is held. None of these attributes inhabit the other tables in the contrasting spirit world.

The next table is the one demons operate. Whether we see it or not these hideous, putrid creatures are right under our noses enticing all manner of evil. But what we see physically is people having a "good" time. There are alcohol spirits, drug spirits, materialism spirits, music spirits, sex spirits, idol spirits, and tons of entertainment and revelry. People are smiling and cavorting, trying everything they desire to try. Earth holds many temptations that demons encourage us to embrace. In our physical world it is popular and right to sit at this table. If you are not sitting here there are countless souls that will tell you to step over. Religious people are sitting here too. Pastors, teachers, bishops, priests, deacons, elders, ushers, of every religious order, many of them still sit here fully aware of the difference between the tables, some not. They will discourage some of the behaviors at the table, but for the most part they don't mind being there. Pride of life and self-righteousness also feel really good to the human soul, so they sit at this table content to live out their days believing they can be as good as God. In the physical they seem to be having a good go of it. In the spirit world these same lives are sitting with tired, sunken eyes, disheveled appearance, and utter confusion of the heart and minds. Demons are satisfied to see their guests at the height of misery. They hate all things and all people and the more miserable the better. In this life attendees have access to the presence of God, as He dwells infinitely in the physical realm so they still feel happiness through hope.

The other table is one that humans have built themselves. The people sitting here stand out because they don't delight in the norms. Revelry, meanness, in some cases materialism, and exaltation of any human being is frowned upon. They don't need a religion. In their opinion they don't need any gods at all. They feel free to live peaceably and intelligently on their own, not accepting any pop culture idea, but embracing themselves as great and good enough. They even ridicule people sitting at the other tables and chide them for not sitting at their table. Again, with access to the presence of God they still experience forms of peace and hope. What they don't understand is this table does not exist in the spirit world or in eternity and they'll be forced to sit at the demons' table anyway. Still, in the physical world the people sitting here seem to be getting by just fine. Demons can see the same lack of definition and desperation as those at their own table and they do well to just leave them alone, lest they begin to seek out truth.

In the movie The Matrix when people realize what they've always known has been a lie there's a crisis of conscience. At the revelation they are not only dumbfounded, but angry that they've been duped. This is what happens at the end of our days. Never mind the apocalypse. We know destruction is coming, but when is a big question mark. Current statistics suggest that close to 1 billion people have left earth for their eternity since 2001. Eternity is longer than this. Our lives on earth are a vapor in the big picture. We choose our tables now in the physical to live for all of eternity. At which table do you sit? I know it's cliche, but anyone who reads this is challenged to choose the Lord's table. This plea does not regard religion, but lifestyle.

In the spirit realm there is no human table since we become spirit. The table with demons disappears. It sheds its skin like a venomous snake. You see the bare bones of it as it translates into utter darkness, heart-wrenching screams, excruciating pain and anguish, and the total absence of the presence of God. There are no ranks, no drugs to numb pain, no alcohol, no relationships. Hope is gone, love does not exist, and fear is constant. It is pure evil without end. No one wants to be here and everyone is suffering all the time.

When the Lord's table is removed and the veil is lifted there is the complete presence of the One we call God. Unadulterated love, joy, and peace. A most beautiful light unlike any we've ever experienced in all our days. There is a lifting of every weight. Tears won't be shed anymore, depression is non-existent, and pain is a fluttering, distant memory. Goodness and mercy, truth and justice, love and compassion all dwell here in the I AM. The people sitting at this table fit right in. They belong there because they've been practicing this on earth.

The surface world we see every day is not what it seems. Another world is hidden in plain sight. In science we learn that matter never ceases to exist. It changes forms, but never ends. We are matter and this is true of us as well. We don't end, we change and become solely spirit and take a place in the eternal realm we chose while on earth. Trust in Jesus. He's the Way, He's the Truth, and He's the Life. No one will get to the Father except by Him - John 14:6. Everyone has an open, free invitation while here on earth to sit wherever they like. We all have to choose eventually. Believe Him, as there is no other Way and whether you believe it or not, it will still be.