Louie Giglio - At the Table With Jesus: 66 Days to Draw Closer to Christ and Fortify Your Faith

Dont Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table

Never Too Far

Not Forsaken

Goliath Must Fall

The Comeback

Waiting Here for You

Indescribable

I Am Not but I Know I Am

The Air I Breathe

Childrens Books

Goliath Must Fall for Young Readers

How Great Is Our God: 100 Indescribable

Devotions About God & Science

Indescribable: 100 Devotions About God & Science

Indescribable for Little Ones

At the Table with Jesus

2021 Louie Giglio

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ISBN 978-0-7852-5612-0 (audiobook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-5611-3 (eBook)

ISBN 978-0-7852-5610-6 (TP)

Epub Edition January 2022 9780785256113

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021938862

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

Have you ever wondered what the worlds most expensive table might be like? Me neither. But I saw a headline of an article recently that caught my attention, and, of course, I ended up reading the whole thing.

Turns out the worlds most expensive table is called the Tufft pier table, named after the guy who built it: Thomas Tufft. (Imagine what a good marketer could do if Thomas were in business today. Built Tufft!) Crafted in 1776, this table was sold to a general store owner from Lumberton, New Jersey, named Richard Edwards. All that sounds pretty normal, right?

Now comes the crazy part. A little more than two hundred years later, one of Edwardss descendants sold that same table at a Christies auction for $4.6 million! Heres how the New York Times reported on the sale:

The prize of the sale was a Philadelphia console or pier table with a Chinese-style apron of pierced fretwork, tall legs, narrow ankles and finely detailed ball-and-claw feet. The rococo rarity, carved by Thomas Tufft in 177576, was sold for $4.6 million on Jan. 20, becoming the most expensive table in the world. The price was well above the presale estimate of at most $1.5 million.

When I first read that, I thought, Umm, okay How do narrow ankles translate to four-and-a-half million bucks?

I mean, what is more commonplace in the world today than a table? Everybody has one. More than one, probably. Our homes are packed with them, from dinner tables to breakfast nooks to end tables to bedside tables to coffee tables. Go to most parks and youll find a whole line of picnic tables sitting out there on the grass, free for anyone to use. Or just throw a piece of plywood on top of some cinderblocks, and boom! theres a table.

And yet...

The more I think about it, the more I realize tables have a symbolic value within our culture. Tables are connected to some of the most important and meaningful moments of our lives.

When were at home, for example, we gather around a table with those nearest and dearest to us. We have first dates at tables. We celebrate golden anniversaries at tables. We forge new friendships at tables. We teach our kids important lessons at tables. We even make business deals by shaking hands over and signing papers on conference room tables.

In a lot of ways, then, a table is an icon of influence. Of access. When you let someone join you at a table, youre inviting them in. Bringing them close. Opening yourself in a way thats vulnerable.

So, yeah, I guess I can see why tables are valuable. Does that mean Im going to break the bank the next time I need some new dining room furniture? In a word, nope. But I do want you to consider the importance of the table in your own life. Specifically, what I call the table of your mind.

Recently I wrote a book called Dont Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. It was inspired in part by Psalm 23:5, which says, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I love the imagery of that verse. In my minds eye, I see a green field where my enemies are prowling around, looking for a way to destroy me. Yet right thereright in the middle of the wolves and the hyenasI see the Good Shepherd setting up a table and inviting me over. I dont have to worry when I sit down at that table. I dont have to protect myself or say anything to justify myself against my foes. Why? Because Im at the table with the King of the Universe.

Unfortunately, its been my observation that many people, myself included, have a terrible habit of pulling out a chair and gesturing to those ravenous wolves prowling around the perimeter: Come on over. Have a seat. We open ourselves to the Enemy. We give Satan access to our minds and our hearts.

Dont Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table is my call for all followers of God to take back our tables. To stand up in our Christ-given authority and rid ourselves of negative influences. To shut our doors against the lies, the doubts, and the fears Satan whispers so consistently and so persistently after he weasels his way into our space.

Ridding ourselves of negative influences is a critical step in winning the battle for our own hearts and minds. If you havent had the chance to read