And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 1 Corinthians 11:24 NKJV
It is one of the holiest moments any of us spend in the average week, month, or year – when we come to the table of the Lord to partake of the symbols of His body and His blood. One by one the elements rest in our hand, reminding us that our very lives hang in the balance of what these items represent. The sins of the past week – perhaps even the past few hours – parade into our thoughts. Things that seemed so justified, so compelling, so valid to us at the time now seem in this holy setting utterly foolish. Shameful. What were we thinking?
But at some point in this process of repentance, with the weight of our fallenness resting heavily and horribly all around us, hope reawakens in our soul. We are not impossibly saddled to these sins forever. In fact, they have already been forgiven! Jesus’ grand statement—“It is finished” (John 19:30) – applies to us as well. By virtue of His death and resurrection, we are free from the guilt, the weight, the penalty of our sin. Thank You, Lord!
It is this very moment -?this “thank-you” moment – that sums up the whole objective of what we are doing here. The word eucharist (the more liturgical term for what many of us call Communion or the Lord’s Supper) comes from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning “the giving of thanks.” So when we partake of Communion, we are engaged in gratitude. Gratitude to God. Gratitude for the gospel. From guilt, through grace, to gratitude … all celebrated as we meet together at His table.
Even on this ordinary day, perhaps far from the Communion table, celebrate the glorious freedom from your sins with a knee-bending prayer of gratitude.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss, The Quiet Place [Paraphrased]