“he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast” -Proverbs
15:15
A continual feast. What an incredibly astounding image! It is a heavenly image. Throughout Scripture we are told of a
feast that awaits us and, indeed, it will be continual. When I hear the word ‘feast’
I instantly think of family holiday gatherings and wedding receptions. The food
and drink are the best at these events. The roasted (and/or smoked) meats! The best wine! The mountains of endless mashed potatoes. But I am finite so I cannot continually eat and drink. One day I will. Though for now we eat and drink and become sick, at the Continual Feast we will eat and drink and ask for thirteenths. We will put hobbits to shame. And with Jesus as our host, no doubt the wine will just keep getting better and better.
Watching my children dance at a wedding reception
gives me nearly an unspeakable amount of joy. Their laughter, their spinning gowns, their ability to feel no embarrassment whatsoever (as exemplified by my son's out of sync herky-jerky step-jump slide'n-rip-the-knees dance moves). But our fallen bodies grow tired (even of watching) and so at some point we must
leave. The protestation from the children, despite their exhaustion, speaks to
their Christlikeness. They innately long for the Continual Feast.
Oh, if watching my children dance is but the slightest
foretaste of heaven then it is a mercy that God has made me finite, for if I
experienced the fullness of that joy and love and happiness now, my heart would up and burst.
One day, at the Continual Feast, my heart will be made strong enough to endure the joy, and what would make my heart burst as a fallen man would be but the first flutter in heaven.
