Appetites shimmy with glee, saliva pools in our mouths, stomachs churn impatiently. Today, we will feast on the bounty placed before us. Succulent meats, savory sides, hearty stuffing, and decadent pies release aromas signaling the time has come.

An enticing invitation

Long ago the Lord invited the hungry and thirsty to come, buy with no money and eat (Isaiah 55:1-2). With what does he seek to entice them to his table? With fat. Jeremiah 31:14 says, “And I will feast the soul of the priests with fatness and My people will be satisfied with my goodness.” These words of hope, to scattered and hungry survivors from their merciful God, teased of what they had to look forward to after he gathered them from all the places they scattered during Israel’s exile. The same invitation is issued today.

The Fat

The fat on which our souls feast is the fat which, in the Hebrew language, became synonymous with abundance and excess. Literally, it is the ashes from the choicest fat of animals burned on the altar during offerings. The raw fat rose as it burned as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord (Lev 1:9, 13; 3:5,16; 4:31) just as Christ also served as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2) to become the fat ashes of the priest’s feast.

In the times of temple sacrifices, however, the priests were expressly forbidden from partaking of the fat. “All the fat belongs to the Lord,” the restriction went. Yet here, just verses before the new covenant which the blood of Christ fulfills (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1 Cor 11:25) is given, our Lord offers the fat as the crown dish in his promised feast for us, members of his royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).

With this table before us, also full of fat–oils, butter, creams, let us consider this feast a sign pointing to the work of Christ in which we can freely partake. Let us heed his words, eat what is good, and delight our souls in the richest of fare. The soul of the starved is full only of itself. God is neither among its thoughts nor counted among its desires. But God’s people are engorged with his undiminishable goodness. This is the feasted soul, where all hunger, thirst and pining are met in him.

Let us seek this grace for ourselves.

Grace for our souls

With sweet intimacy through the Spirit with the Father. (‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:18‬)

Lord, feast our soul

With the life-giving law of blinding glory now inscribed on our hearts (Gal 3:27, 2 Cor 3:7, Eph 3:17)

Lord, feast our soul

With peace in and through Christ himself (John 14:27, Ephesians 2:14,Phil 4:7)

Lord, feast our soul

With divine strength that transforms disappointment into friend and healer

Lord, feast our soul

With indulgent lovingkindness saturating our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5)

Lord, feast our soul

With the pungent blood that secured our eternal redemption, drawing us who were once far off near (Heb 9, Eph 2:13)

Lord, feast our soul

With a rich and glorious inheritance guaranteed through the seal of the promised Holy Spirit (‭‭Eph ‭1:13-14‬, 18)

Lord, feast our soul

With fresh passions and desires, and a heart to know God. (Eph 4:23, Jer 24:7)

Lord, feast our soul

With the savory “yes” spoken to all God’s promises by Christ—our wisdom, knowledge and only hope of glory (2 Cor 1:10, Col 1:27, 2:3)

Lord, feast our soul

With triumph over fear and death. (1 Cor 15:57, 1 John 4:18)

Lord, feast our soul

With lightness that comes from a canceled record of debt nailed to the cross. (‭‭Col‬ ‭2:14‬)

Lord, feast our soul

And finally, with the tender affection of Christ, our true food and drink.

Lord, feast our soul