We Need The Reminder

February 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

We Need The Reminder

A 93-year old visitor to Grace & Truth last summer mentioned that some things aren’t supposed to improve with age. However, he said his ability to forget is getting better and better! Forgetting certain things is probably good, but forgetting matters of importance – especially great importance – is definitely bad. The issues we have with remembering are not unique to a certain age or group of people; we are all affected by this weakness.

How well the Lord knows us and our needs, for even on the “night in which He was betrayed [He] took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Cor. 11:23-25 NKJV). As strange as it sounds in view of the great salvation we have through our Lord Jesus Christ, even our memory of Him dims! We need the Breaking of Bread as a reminder of our Savior and what He has done. This can impact our lives in tremendous ways to the glory of God. How different was the early Church as they remembered the Lord together day by day. Sadly, we have not maintained the freshness of those days.

The apostle Paul, as led of the Holy Spirit, then wrote in his letter: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (v.26). “Till He comes” is the hope and joy of every believer. He is coming for His own! “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Th. 4:16-17).

We do not know when that shout will be heard or the trumpet will sound. Therefore, it is important for us who bear the Lord’s name to be found always living and behaving in a manner pleasing to Him. Scripture holds many wonderful lessons; let us heed them.

By Paul Alberts