Today’s
scripture:
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I
could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich, have
become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are
wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…” Revelation 3:15-17
I was recently requested to write about the
institution of the Lord’s Supper and more importantly examining ourselves
before we take part in such a glorious and reverence time. Honestly, it is a
topic that I have felt very strongly about and felt the need to make it known
to the church at large the importance of having that time to reflect on what
God has done, more specifically what Jesus has done in your life!
I have witnessed some who have a misunderstanding
of what is meant by taking communion. First of all, it’s only meant for those
who have truly asked the Lord Jesus to come into their lives and to
follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This is only meant for followers and lovers
of Christ because of the meaning of communion. It’s to remember and reflect of
what Jesus went through for you and why He chose to give up His glory in heaven
and be beaten and spat on and die a horrible hellish death on a cross so that
you can have close contact and a relationship with the Father.
My concern is that even in the church there are
many who may have once made that decision to give their life to Christ but now
have slipped into a spirit of sluggishness and have fallen asleep spiritually. Have
we as a church lost that reverence and aw on what the cross means to us? Have we
slipped away from thanksgiving and gratitude to our Lord? I even fear that
sometimes I fall into that spiritual sluggishness and lose sight on the Lord
Jesus and why I chose to follow Him in the first place a few years ago.
Look at the Word from God… Matthew 25:5 – “But while the Bridegroom (Jesus) was
delayed, they all slumbered and slept”. See, the Word of God says He was
delayed. Jesus will come again whenever He chooses to come. He is not late! He
is delayed only in our minds because people have been saying His is coming
again very soon for years. We think we can kinda skate by and when things get
bad we can turn to God until things cool
off and then we go back to living our busy lives going to and fro and not
having much thought about Jesus until Sunday rolls around again next week.
The truth is we need to press into Him now! Examine
yourselves before God and before you take part in the Lord’s Supper. Is there
anything at all that The Lord Jesus wants you to turn from? Are you living a consecrated
life devoted to Him and Him only? Are you devoted to sacrifice your will so
that His will can be lived out through you? Put down the smartphone and tablet,
and stop playing those video games and listening to that music and taking part
in group activities just for a moment each day and spend time with the one who
has saved your life from the tortures of hell!
Let’s together turn from that sluggish spiritual
sleep and awake up to a spirit of thankfulness and respect to the enormous
sacrifice Jesus made for us! It is time to stop being a lukewarm church and
start living a life of prayer and a burning fire in our hearts to enjoy Jesus
Himself by living and sacrificing for others in need and having a special time
set aside each day for the Lord to speak to us.
Reflection:
The
verse for today is indeed strong! It is not meant to cut people down but it is
the Word from God and it is meant to put us in our rightful place and humble
us. It is also meant to show us our need to be godly rich only in Him and to be
clothed with a whiter than snow garment to cover our nakedness and we need Him
to give us sight to see Him as He truly is and not a false distortion of a god.
This writing is about communion. Communion with Jesus and knowing who He is and
who we are in light of Him. To have Him be put on the thrown of our hearts
instead of us being our own ruler of our lives.
Challenge:
My
challenge to you today is to put down and stop anything that has kept you from
spending time with Jesus. Maybe even fast for a week or so from that thing that
has become a god in your life.
-Doug McGowan
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