A special meal

​8-12-21
Today's devotion is based on 1 Corinthians 11:24-29, "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, also he took the cup after Supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself."
Today's reading is about a gathering of people who had shared some amazing times together. This meal was different from the other meals they had eaten together. We know this because, during the meal, when Jesus took the bread and lifted up the cup of wine, he said that it was his body and blood.  It is a great mystery, one that we cannot fully understand, but take Jesus' words as being valid.
In sharing this meal, we build and strengthen our Christian family life as we celebrate and remember the life and death of our Saviour. So, after sharing the Lord's Supper, the thanksgiving prayer acknowledges the healing gift that it is, and we pray that through it, we would be strengthened in faith toward God and in love toward one another.
Please pray with me the prayer for today: Loving Savior, thank you for living and dying for us. Thank you that as we gather around your table, we share this celebration with all of your children. May we be strengthened by it and joyfully share the message of your love in our daily life. Amen.