As an event decorator for more than a decade, I’ve been asked a myriad of questions over the years regarding my craft: “Why all the fuss?” “Why go to such length regarding the details?” “What about the great expense?” While most of the time “It’s my love for what I do” is answer enough. But to probe my heart one would discover I decorate with the thought of every guest, especially the unseen guest, in mind.
Nobody loves a party more than I do. I light up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of making your event dreams come true. I hyperventilate in the candy store of Pinterest. I savor the hunt for napkin folds, centerpiece ideas, favors, intimate lighting and linens. Glue guns are my weapon of choice and I dream in glitter of every color in the crayon box. It’s a mystery that setting a beautiful table fills my tank, yet it does. But it’s also the invited list of names I want to overwhelm in the details that motivates my passion, those selected guests who have no idea of the tables prepared just for them.
If truth be told though, some guests rarely notice the trappings of the table. A tablecloth would have sufficed; even a wrinkled one. The decoration expense might be viewed as a waste and unappreciated favor gifts are left behind by many. No matter the opinion though, this event decorator will continue to pour out her heart onto her guests, especially the unseen guest whom she truly decorates for, the Lord.
If the Lord is with us always and our standard for service requires, “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Colossians 3:23 (KJV).” Then I must always sense the presence of the unseen guest taking his reserved seat at the table, in hopes that my hands have prepared from a spirit of excellence befitting the Son of God.
As Jesus prepares for us a place in heaven, I’ve often imagined the banquet-table we will one day dine beside him at, pondering its splendor and extravagance. If heaven’s streets are paved in gold and its gates layered in pearls, eyes can’t conceive what will take our breath away and bring us to our knees when Jesus beckons us to take our place at the table. If we are called to bring heaven here to earth as Matthew 6:10 (NIV) reminds us, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Then it is my innermost desire that every table I set display even the smallest hint of our heavenly place.
Oh, that we all desire to bring heaven here on earth through the gifting we are called to. May we always be mindful to serve in excellence, “as unto the Lord”, as he is the unseen guest in everything we do. Never forgetting the ultimate end is that others might see Jesus’ amazing love for them through us.