Raise a glass to Jesus.  Many drink to forget, we drink to remember!

It is an amazing truth that we have been invited to the Lord’s table. The fact that the King of the universe invites us to His table is a humbling thought to me. As we gather around the table, our minds should focus on what it cost the Lord to provide this table. Spend a moment thinking about what it cost Him to take away sin’s curse and to give us access to heaven. It cost Him His very life.  To remember all that Jesus has done here are three things we must do:

1. Examine My Life and Confess My Sins.

If it is our desire to experience the fullness of His blessing at the Lord’s table, then it will require that we examine our lives.  Later in the New Testament, believers are commanded to examine themselves before they come to the Lord’s table (1 Cor. 11:28).

This examination includes an examination of sin in our lives. We can do several things with sin in our lives: we can hide it, deny it, make excuses for it, or we can confess it. As we confess our sins, the Lord has promised to forgive our sins.

Forgiveness is depicted in the Lord’s Supper. In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” It is clear that the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin.

2.  Give Thanks for Jesus’ Sacrifice.

 Jesus lifted the cup and gave thanks. We too must be thankful for what we have received.

Just think about where we would be without the blood of Christ. We would be sinners on the way to hell, without any joy in this life. Furthermore, we would miss out on all the benefits of the Christian life.

God wants us to learn to be thankful for everything that He has given to us. The habit of giving thanks reminds us of all that we have. It also keeps us obedient to the many commands of Scripture to give thanks.

 3. Receive Christ for Forgiveness and Eternal Life

The two food items at the Lord’s table remind us that Jesus gave us the greatest gift He could possibly give us: His own body and blood. There is life in blood. In fact, you cannot have life without blood. In every drop of Jesus’ blood there is forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Without physical blood there could be no physical life, and without His blood there could be no eternal life. What a glorious message is proclaimed through the Lord’s Supper.

So what should we do? Each time we participate in the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, we must make certain that we give adequate time preparing our hearts, giving thanks for our Savior’s work on the cross, and adequately remembering His great sacrifice.

Will we remember?  Jesus intended that the Lord’s Supper would be a lasting memorial to His redemptive work on the cross.   In order to help us remember, Jesus raised a lasting monument to His death with two basic food items. When Luke records this episode, he records that Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Paul also records that Jesus said, “in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:25). Christ knew our human tendency to forget, so He established the ordinance so that we would never forget the work that Christ accomplished on the cross.

Raise a glass to Jesus.  Many drink to forget we drink to remember.