Jude 12a "These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves." NIV
"When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you (or contaminants or stains).They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. " NLT
Lord, Precious Savior, this could have been said of me before I trusted You for salvation! Thank You for Your sweet forgiveness!
When I was a child, and even in my teen years, when we had Communion at church, I would partake because that's what you did. I knew in my head that the bread was supposed to represent Your body, and the grape juice, Your blood; but the full meaning of that was lost on me because I was not yet saved. I looked forward to it because we got to eat in the church service. I am ashamed to even tell this, but You already know...once, when I was in high school, I went to church with one of my friends from another denomination. They were having "Communion" so I went to the altar with my friend. I never remember any minister telling us about the verses in Corinthians 11: 24-34a:
"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment." Maybe if they had it would have made a difference to me, and maybe they did and I was too ignorant to hear and understand it correctly. Spiritual things are foolishness to those who do not believe because they are spiritually discerned. That was certainly true of me!
Instead of the little tiny cups we used at our church for the juice, they actually had a common large chalice. I remember thinking, because we very rarely could afford grape juice at home, that I would get a good drink of it. So when it was passed to me, I drank two great swallows. Lord, You taught me even then that I was a selfish sinner who was ignorant. The liquid in the cup was not grape juice, but wine! I almost choked there at the altar in front of You and everyone in the church! I had never tasted alcohol, and to this day can't stand the taste of wine...maybe this is why.
Lord, I know You have forgiven me for this sin, and I am forever grateful; but now, knowing what You suffered to pay my debt for that sin, the magnitude of it saddens me. I know I am no longer guilty, but since I trusted You and fully understand, celebrating the Lord's Supper is a very emotional time for me. I am overwhelmed with Your grace and mercy in my life.
Lord, I pray I was not a reef to shipwreck a believer in those churches. I know I was a blemish and a contaminate. I had not "known" You and then turned away, I knew OF You, but that still does not excuse that behavior or the sin of those Jude was writing about.
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