Present Tense Love

We had communion yesterday at Church.

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.' " Luke 22:19-20 ESV

The wine was sweet and the bread was nourishing. The fruit of the vine. The cup of salvation and the unleavened bread of Passover.

The cross was going to be bitter, brutal and awful. Jesus wanted there to be a sweet taste in the mouths of the disciples, and ours, in regards to the new covenant.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 KJV

God 'loved', in the past tense, and He 'loves' in the present tense.

The communion we have in Church is a tiny wafer and a tiny little cup of grape juice. The disciples had a whole Passover meal that carried them through the night and into the next day. Israel had this meal first. The blood of it sprinkled on the doorpost of their houses. It carried them over the Red Sea and into freedom. For the disciples there would also be a first born that dies and a night of intrigue that resulted in freedom.

The little wafer and tiny cup of grape juice is not enough to feed us. The taste however is the same sweet taste.

I think of it now as I write this. It is the taste of love... of salvation. Love in the present tense.

"When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not... Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged." 1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 27-31 ESV

A sobering passage. We can 'examine ourselves' by availing ourselves to the Holy Spirit's scrutiny and take the cup of salvation while living in the present tense of God's love. Otherwise we will live in the past tense of God's love and have familiarity enter our frame of reference.

I want the memory of Christ' bitter night and what it accomplished to be vivid in my mind. Today I want the tone of my heart to match the memory of the sweet taste in my mouth.

Oh God! Help us today! Help us remember you. Stir up our minds. We avail ourselves now just like we would before communion and present our bodies a living sacrifice today. You are our sweetness... You are our strength... Your Love for us is a right now love. Help us to let go and let You love us. We want to let You love us today.