Daily life with Jesus by Grahame Howard: Examine yourself

Sunday 17 May 2020

Examine yourself

"But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgement to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."
1 Corinthians 11:28-29. NKJV

Taking communion is a beautiful thing. We share in the Lord's supper, remembering all that Jesus did for us on the cross. It should never be taken lightly or in a disrespectful way. It may be possible, that some do this out of a weekly ritual, just going through the motions but not really giving it much thought or devotion.

Charles F Stanley says:
'The Lord's Supper not only looks back at Christ's sacrifice and gives Him praise for His great gift of salvation to us, but it also looks ahead to that day when we will see Him again and enjoy our heavenly home with Him forever.'
Life Principles Bible, p1798. Charles F Stanley

Our walk with Jesus should never be a ritualistic practice but one of excitement and anticipation. After all, when we're in step with Him, one never knows what is going to turn up - blessing or the need to exercise spiritual warfare.
Therefore, we need to be ready and alert because we are on active service. A soldier who falls asleep whilst on duty, can bring defeat to his whole regiment. In the same way, a soldier of Christ needs to be alert 24/7.

Neglect to duty, is something we need to be mindful of. As Christians, we cannot afford to take a day off to do our own thing. We should involve Jesus in all we do. We need to be careful about our thoughts, practices and our feelings. The devil is the master of deception. If he can take your mind off God, he will do. If he can cause you to neglect God's commands, he loves it. Remember Adam and Eve in Genesis 3? He caused them to neglect what God had told them and the result was, they had to hide from him in the garden when He called them. Through their neglect, they had brought evil into the world.

Neglect causes deception. We need to examine ourselves and all we do, so that we can partake of The Lord's Supper with a pure heart and live each day as a Child of the King!

Copyright 2020 Grahame Howard