What do you imagine when, in the middle of Psalm 23, you read the author telling God, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”? A table? In a field? With adversaries lurking around? Wouldn’t a fortress be better? What does it mean to sit at the table with the King of the Universe?
Bible Gateway interviewed Louie Giglio (@louiegiglio) about his book, At the Table with Jesus: 66 Days to Draw Closer to Christ and Fortify Your Faith (Thomas Nelson, 2022).
What prompted you to write At the Table with Jesus and what’s the significance of 66 days?
Louie Giglio: I wanted to equip and encourage people to take the next step toward a rich and fulfilling walk with Jesus. I talked a lot in Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table about how to protect and guard against the Enemy’s attempts to sit down. But I also wanted to write about what sitting down for you looks like. What it means to linger in the presence of the King and to highlight the beauty, the mightiness, and the worthiness of the one who sits at the table with us: Jesus.
And the idea of 66 days is tied to a few things. First, science is continually reminding us that it takes about 60 days to properly make a new habit. I wanted people not just to sit down but to stay seated with the King, so I wanted this devotion to become engrained in our hearts and minds. And second, I think things that are worth the fight take some time to get into, and 66 days seemed like a good length of time to really move our hearts and minds towards Jesus.
The “table” was a prominent metaphor in Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table, as it is in this devotional. Please unpack the meaning behind the table.
Louie Giglio: The great thing about the table is that it comes straight from Psalm 23, but it’s also something the vast majority of us are very familiar with. Most of us have a kitchen or dining room table, and over the years, the table has likely played a variety of roles in our lives. For some, it’s a place of nourishment. For others, it’s a place of family. A place of hope. But it’s also seen some hard conversations. Some late nights. Some tough moments. So we all have experience with a table, so I liked the metaphor because its a way of taking what is somewhat common and helping people see what is totally uncommon about Jesus’ table.
It appears At the Table with Jesus is a devotional approach to Christology. Is that your intent?
Louie Giglio: My intent was to help people discover that Jesus is both inexhaustible and intimate. That there could be 600 or 6,000 devotionals about his power and love and worthiness. But he’s also intimate enough that he sits down to a meal with you. He prepares the table in the presence of your enemies because he cares for you. He knows you.
So is it a Christology? In the technical sense, sure. But in a lot of ways, it’s a collection of devotions meant to inspire awe and nearness to the One who has the name above all names.
In Day One you write, “The very first thing you need to process and understand is that Jesus is God?” Why is that?
Louie Giglio: It’s very easy to treat Jesus and his teachings like he’s just another self-help, leadership guru who wants to improve your life and make you the best version of who you can be. If we’re not careful, that theology creeps into churches and into our hearts. So if we’re going to explore a devotional that’s primarily focused on Jesus, I wanted to be clear right off the bat on who Jesus is. He doesn’t just want an hour of “quiet time” on your schedule. He demands your heart. He doesn’t just offer pleasant suggestions, he says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” And why can he say and demand this extent of who we are? Because he’s God.
Why is it important to try to grasp the concept that Jesus was fully God and fully human?
Louie Giglio: Just as we can sometimes overlook that Jesus is fully God, we can in other ways forget that he was also fully human. That’s important because it authenticates the truth that Jesus understands you. Yes, as God, he knows everything. But because he was fully human, he felt what you feel. He was tempted like you’ve been tempted. He slept because he was tired, ate because he was hungry, had to navigate the social constructs of his day and work through interpersonal dynamics with his friends and family. He understands you and therefore can be empathetic and loving towards you. He’s both, and that’s the only way the righteous requirement could be fulfilled. Someone who was God and therefore knew no sin, fully embracing the humanity of mankind to put to death once and for all the sins of the world.
How should the fact that Jesus is Lord affect a person’s day to day life?
Louie Giglio: In Acts 2, Peter stands up after Pentecost and says, “This Jesus, who you crucified is both Christ and Lord.” What he was saying then is still true for us today. Jesus is both our messiah, or Christ, and our sovereign ruler, our Lord. It means in our day-to-day that he deserves our total obedience. As Lord, he’s called us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and we should joyfully seek to fulfill that commandment and live transformed lives.
As readers navigate through At the Table with Jesus, what is your hope for them?
Louie Giglio: My biggest hope for readers is that their view of Jesus is enlarged and expanded, that maybe they read something they’ve never read before or perceive a characteristic or truth they’ve never thought of before. I truly believe when we see more of who God is, our affections begin to shift, and our actions follow suit. I hope that readers navigate this resource and come away being more in awe of Jesus and more inspired to continue walking closely with Him.
What is a favorite Bible passage of yours and why?
Louie Giglio: It’s difficult to narrow it down to just one, but I’ll go with Philippians 2, in light of this resource. It’s full of unbelievable truth. Jesus, though God, didn’t consider equality with God something to be grasped. He lived an open-handed life. He humbled himself and took on the form of a servant, the form of humanity, and then humbled himself even further—to the point of death, and death on a cross. But the best part comes next. Therefore, God saw fit to exalt Jesus to the highest place, with a name above all names. And the final hook—why did all of this happen? Verse 11 has a key comma and what follows is our answer: to the glory of God the Father.
What are your thoughts about Bible Gateway and the Bible Gateway App and Bible Audio App?
Louie Giglio: I think the work that Bible Gateway is doing is remarkable. Increased accessibility to the Word of God is one of the greatest gifts we have in this generation. But Bible Gateway isn’t just making the Word more accessible, you’re helping make it more applicable. That’s a worthy pursuit, and I’m grateful for the work and wisdom applied toward that end.
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Louie Giglio: As the devotion points out, Jesus is worth everything. He’s the treasure buried in the field that when we find it, we go and sell everything we have and buy that field. He’s worthy of every moment, every heartbeat, and every ounce of who we are, and if we’re willing to commit that to him, I’m confident we’ll never be disappointed with that decision.
At the Table with Jesus is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
Bio: Louie Giglio is pastor of Passion City Church and original visionary of the Passion movement, which exists to call a generation to leverage their lives for the fame of Jesus.
Since 1997, Passion Conferences has gathered collegiate-aged young people in events across the US and around the world. Most recently, Passion hosted over 700,000 people from over 150 countries online at Passion 2021.
Louie is the national-bestselling author of over a dozen books including his newest release, Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table, as well as Goliath Must Fall, Indescribable: 100 Devotions about God & Science, The Comeback, The Air I Breathe, I Am Not But I Know I Am, and others. As a communicator, Louie is widely known for messages like Indescribable and How Great is Our God.
An Atlanta native and graduate of Georgia State University, Louie has done post-graduate work at Baylor University and holds a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Louie and Shelley make their home in Atlanta.
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The post At the Table Communing with Jesus: An Interview with Louie Giglio appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.