"This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you"
(Luke 22:19-20).
THEME
REMEMBRANCE
William Manchester in his memoir about the Pacific conflict of World War II wrote of how "abruptly the poker of memory stirs the ashes of recollection and uncovers a forgotten ember, still smoldering down there, still hot, still glowing, still red as red."
Remembering Israel's experience in Egypt, the disciples and Jesus celebrated the Passover, one of God's many memory devices. The Passover lamb reminded Jews of the animal blood spilled to protect their lives in Egypt. Because Jesus was the true Passover Lamb, He chose new symbols, bread and wine, for His broken body and shed blood.
God knows we have short memory spans; that's why He creates unforgettable memory aids. Yet sometimes we become indifferent to them or deliberately ignore them, allowing spiritual senility to set in.
Those concerned about forgetfulness fight it with attentive minds that meditate on who God is and what He has done. For ponderers and reflectors, the past is the road to a future of fresh experiences with God.
Most of all, graduates of God's memory school think about Jesus. He is always in their mind's eye. They see red as red.
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NOV 04
ISAIAH 53
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief
(Isaiah 53:10).
When I saw my pastor's sermon title, "You Can't Drink Grapes," I wondered what his message was going to be about. His communion meditation centered on the two symbols Jesus used at the Lord's Supper: bread and wine. The bread symbolizes Christ's body; the wine His shed blood. The wine came from grapes, luscious and ripe, harvested from the vine. But before they became liquid, they had to be crushed so that all of the juice would flow out of them.
The same was true in the life of the Lord Jesus. To fulfill His purpose for coming to this earth, He too needed to be crushed. He came to pay the penalty for our sin. That price was death, a sacrifice He paid when He died on the cross. Even though Roman soldiers carried out the execution, the penalty was exacted by God the Father Himself. Isaiah wrote, "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise [crush] Him."
It's true. We can't drink grapes. They must be crushed to give forth juice. And that is exactly what happened to Christ on our behalf on Calvary's cross. He poured out His physical life so that we might have spiritual life. When we drink the juice of communion, we are to remember the One who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
--D.C.E.
Natural life came by God's breath; eternal life comes by Christ's death.
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NOV 05
LUKE 22:14-20
"Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19).
The Bible tells us to remember many things, but one of the most important is to remember Jesus as we partake of the Lord's Supper. Meditating on His suffering and death should always fill us with a deep sense of gratitude to God for providing our redemption.
When my friend Roger was a boy, he and his family lived on a farm alongside a dirt road. Only on rare occasions would an automobile pass by. But one day as Roger's young brother was crossing the road on his bicycle, a car came roaring down a nearby hill, struck the boy, and killed him. Roger said, "Later, when my father picked up the mangled, twisted bike, I heard him sob out loud for the first time in my life. He carried it to the barn and placed it in a spot we seldom used. Father's terrible sorrow eased with the passing of time, but for many years whenever he saw that bike, tears began streaming down his face." Roger continued, "Since then I have often prayed, 'Lord, keep the memory of Your death as fresh as that to me! Every time I partake of Your memorial supper, let my heart be stirred as though You died only yesterday. Never let the communion service become a mere formality, but always a tender and touching experience.'"
When we partake of the Lord's Supper, the thought of Christ dying on a cruel cross should move our heart and motivate us to holy living.
--H.G.B.
Remembering Christ's wounds should encourage us to obey His words.
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NOV 06
1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-26
"This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me"
(1 Corinthians 11:25).
Every year Americans observe a holiday called Memorial Day to remember those who gave their lives that others might live in freedom. Remembering their sacrifice should be the emphasis of the day, but many citizens forget, and think only of themselves.
In a DETROIT FREE PRESS article, Jack Kresnak wrote about a Memorial Day service near the Detroit River where 150 people were listening to a Naval Reserve captain lament the fact that the meaning of the day had been lost. A short distance away a young man in a safari hat and a three-piece suit rode a decorated bicycle dubbed "Spotlight." This "super-customized Schwinn" was covered with cardboard, gold spray paint, and pictures of girlfriends. It had two radios and twenty flashlights shining in all directions. Later, when asked about his escapade, the biker said, "I do this to get attention."
In 1 Corinthians 11 we read of a different kind of memorial day. It too lost its true meaning because people treated it casually. Instead of remembering Christ, who had died so that sinners could live, many Corinthian Christians thought only of themselves. The memorial meal became a time for eating, drinking, and making merry.
A similar thing can happen in churches today. When we partake of the Lord's Supper, we must examine ourselves to make sure we are not preoccupied with our own desires instead of thinking of Jesus' death. We must be sure to focus our attention on Christ.
--M.R.D. II
The host at the Lord's supper is the Lord of hosts.
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NOV 07
1 CORINTHIANS 11:27-34
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged
(1 Corinthians 11:31).
In the 1960s, a respectable club in New York State refused membership to a young Jewish man. A minister who belonged to the club took a strong stand against this prejudice by denouncing it from the pulpit, even though many members of his congregation also belonged to that club. In his sermon, he said, "I must insist that the members of my congregation take a stand against a policy that is morally reprehensible." He ended by saying, "Anyone who has in any way--by thought, word, or deed--acquiesced with this position . . . is no longer welcome to receive holy communion . . . until he has worked out his own peace with God."
That clergyman had scriptural backing for citing unconfessed sin as a barrier to coming to the Lord's Supper. Some first-century Christians had made a mockery of the Lord's Supper by splitting into little groups and getting drunk on the wine (1 Co 11:21). The apostle Paul therefore made individual self-examination a part of the preparation for the communion celebration.
This requirement still holds true today. Although we all approach the bread and the cup as unworthy people, we must not harbor sinful thoughts, attitudes, and deeds. We dishonor our Savior's shed blood and broken body if we refuse to renounce and turn from what we know is wrong. The communion service is a blessed time--but first it is a judgment time.
--D.J.D.
The Lord's table is first a test, then a testimony.
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NOV 08
JOHN 14:25-31
The Lord will bless His people with peace (Psalm 29:11).
When Jesus was with His disciples in the upper room shortly before His crucifixion, He knew they would face turmoil and unrest in the days ahead. They would experience the distressing events of His betrayal, arrest, execution, and burial. Then, after His resurrection and ascension, they would face long periods of hard work, opposition, ridicule, and persecution. So in the quiet of those final moments together, He gave them words of comfort: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27).
Peace of mind and heart is still one of our most precious and needed commodities. In his book A TIME TO HEAL, former President Gerald R. Ford repeated a story he had heard some years earlier. During the civil war in Greece in 1948, a villager was planning to emigrate to the United States. Before he left, he asked his weary, beleaguered, poverty-stricken neighbors, "What should I send when I get to America? Should I send money? Food? Clothing?" "No," one of his neighbors replied, "you should send us a ton of tranquillity."
When the burdens and pressures of life pile up on us, we, like those Greek patriots and Christ's disciples, need peace. We who know Jesus as Savior can trust Him to make good on His promise (John 14:27). When we stop to remember what He did for us on Calvary and rest in His loving arms, we will begin to experience the power of the Prince of Peace.
--D.C.E.
Peace floods the soul when Christ rules the heart.
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NOV 09
JOHN 14:15-27
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27).
A dear friend of many years, Ethel La Botz, sent me a letter in which she wrote: "As I was reading your devotional in OUR DAILY BREAD called 'The Peace Corps,' I was reminded of what a missionary in Brazil told me when we were there. Reared in a godless home, she was unhappy and dissatisfied with life. Then one day she noticed an advertisement for the Peace Corps. The thought came to her, that's what's missing in my life--peace. So she joined and was sent to Irian Jaya, but she soon realized she couldn't find what she was lacking. Through her work, however, she came in contact with an old Indian. He was different from anyone she had ever met. She inquired as to what caused his peace, joy, and contentment, and he told her that Jesus was in his heart. So she started reading the Bible. Through the Word and the witness of the Indian friend, she found the peace that only Christ can give."
That same peace is available to all who by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," said Paul in Romans 5:1. Those who have peace WITH God can also experience the peace OF God. This is what John 14 is all about. The Bible says, "Let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Php 4:6-7).
Yes, in this troubled world we can find peace--the wonderful, satisfying peace of God!
--R.W.D.
No God, no peace; Know God, know peace.
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NOV 10
PSALM 103
Forget not all His benefits (Psalm 103:2). Forgetting those things which are behind . . . (Philippians 3:13).
The spiritually healthy Christian knows what to remember and what to forget. A wise pastor told me that whenever he gets discouraged he brings to mind the awe and wonder he sensed when God saved him. But he said he deliberately avoids thinking about two men who did him a great wrong in his first pastorate and never made it right. When he recalled that, it aroused old feelings of resentment and hurt that destroyed his peace.
David wrote, "Forget not all His benefits." It's good to remember God's past mercies; how He forgave our sins, healed us, sustained us, and lavished His blessings upon us. Continually thinking about this will help us become more thankful and trusting.
The apostle Paul, on the other hand, spoke of "forgetting those things which are behind." Remembering his sin of persecuting Christians could have depressed him. Glorying in his successes as an honored member of the Jewish community and thinking of the special revelation he had received could have kindled feelings of pride. It is wrong to live in the sagging spirit of regret over past failures; but we can also make the mistake of resting on the laurels of yesterday to the point that we think we have arrived.
We must be selective in what we remember. We should cherish the memories that make Jesus and His salvation more precious, but we should forget those that hinder us as we run the race.
--H.V.L.
We invite defeat by forgetting what we should remember and remembering what we should forget.
