This coming Sunday we’ll be meeting around the Lord’s Table in the morning services. We sometimes refer to this observance as “Communion.” We do so because Christ is present at the Table and we have fellowship with Him as we meet as His body. We also refer to this ordinance as Communion because we meet with one another. 1 John 1:1-4 makes it very clear that when we are “in Christ” we are connected to everybody else that is in Christ. This is a blessing and a responsibility. I have certainly been bugged by people in the family of God but I have been blessed FAR MORE! The older I get the more I appreciate the church. We can allow bad experiences to cloud our thinking and miss the wonder and privilege of being a part of what God is doing in the world today. OR, we can deal with the problems and keep working and praying for the ideal in a world filled with brokenness and strife. The blessing has this commensurate responsibility. We are blessed to bless. We not only receive blessing; we live to bless. That is the nature of the communion of saints. Too many people want the benefit of the church without the responsibility. That is the default setting of humanity. However, even Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. If we are walking in His steps, there will be opportunities to join what He continues to do in this world—seek and save the lost and see them restored to His image. Welcome to the “communion of saints.”
I enjoy fishing with a fly rod and “flies.” I am a novice and have no epic fish stories. I do find trout quite fascinating and their prey is worth studying as well. I’ve read that some flies can pass through as many as 20 stages in their metamorphosis. I’ve never observed that whole life cycle in person but I have been in the middle of a Mayfly hatch during a sunset on the Pere Marquette River. It was an experience I will probably never forget. Speaking of “morphing,” how’s that going for you? God’s principle aim is not only saving you from something (hell), He has saved you to something; He wants to conform you to the image of His Son. That process takes a life time and there are many stages. Our physical form is changing as we age but that is not the morphing I’m referring to in this blog. Our inner life can be renewed day by day through the renewing of our mind. There are many practices to facilitate this. One thing, regardless of your personality, that you will always need is the Word of God. The only way to renew our minds (repent) is to have God’s mind available to us and we have it in the Word. Whether you get your Bible intake alone or in groups, in prayer or in reading, in noise or in quiet…you need His Word. I hope you are making time to pursue what is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey.