Double Blessing
Read 1 John 3:1-2 and 1 John 4:7-16
Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me."
-Luke 22:19 (NIV)
COMMUNION services at our church are a wonderful blessing to me. As my thoughts focus on Christ's sacrifice, my heart is filled with thankfulness for God's amazing grace. Usually, after receiving Communion, I sit with head bowed and eyes closed, continuing in prayer while others are being served.
Recently, however, I have discovered a second blessing within the Communion service. After a brief time in personal prayer, I look around to see my brothers and sisters in Christ as they take Communion and pray. They represent a wide spectrum of ages, social status, and occupations. Some I know well; I know the joys and burdens they carry. Others, I do not know by name.
As I watch, I realize the double blessing of Communion: I am blessed by an overwhelming sense of being among family. I pray silently for each one as they partake at Christ's table. For these moments, we are a family gathered together, experiencing God's grace. What a foretaste of heaven it is!
Sandra Sullivan (West Virginia, USA)
Father, thank you for the grace that you pour on us. Thank you for the kinship we share in Christ. We pray as Jesus taught us, saying, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."* Amen.
At Christ's table we are one.
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Those taking communion today
*Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV).
