This morning, I note the verb “prepared” in 1 Corinthians 2:9.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
It’s so wonderful to consider God’s work of preparation for us. We cannot even fathom the blessing of it. We cannot even imagine it, even if we tried. We don’t know how to think of these kinds of marvelous, supernatural, eternal, diving things. They elude us.
I think about that verb and God’s work to prepare something for us, and I remember other times I’ve read that verb in the Bible. This about this: Jesus tells us not to have troubled hearts because of a special kind of preparation.
He writes in John 14, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
I love considering how God prepares a place for us. It’s a great way to keep my eternal perspective, but what about right now? What about today? Then I remember another use of the verb prepare. Can you remember it? What is coming to your mind about something God can do and is doing for you?
It’s in Psalm 23–the famous psalm about the Lord as our shepherd! And this is what David tells us God does:
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
God prepares a table. Of course I think of how we’re seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6) and the way God prepared for us a Savior. I also think of a table symbolizing feasting, fellowship, and joy.
Don’t you love thinking of God preparing a table for you today? I do. And it’s better than you can even imagine, both now and in eternity.
I also like thinking of God as beckoning us in to His presence: Come close. I’ve prepared something special.
Who wouldn’t drop everything and run to Jesus?