Do this in Remembrance of Me

He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

After supper He took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” Luke 22: 19-20

We celebrate communion to remember the sacrifice Jesus made when He died on the cross for the redemption of our sins so we can live in relationship with God and have eternal life. Jesus broke the bread and served the wine at the last supper before His death and told His disciples to do this in remembrance of Him.

While many churches teach the importance of communion, they tend to disagree on policies and procedures about how to celebrate and even argue on finer points. I choose to keep it simple and just believe what the Bible says. The Bible does not limit who can serve communion, what the elements should be, or how often to celebrate. I suggest you use a bite of bread or a cracker. The drink can be wine, juice, water, or whatever you have on hand.

The sharing of the bread and wine at the last supper was the beginning of the new covenant between God and us. It’s significant they were celebrating the Passover. At Passover the High Priest would slaughter a spotless lamb so the people’s sins would be forgiven for another year. Jesus is the spotless lamb of God who was slain to redeem us of all our sins forever. This new covenant between God and His people gives us redemption from sin and the opportunity to live forever in Heaven when we pass from this life to eternity. Jesus taught us to remember His love and the forgiveness of our sins every time we share communion.

I take communion every day. I just use a cracker and some juice. I make it part of my daily prayer time. I acknowledge Jesus’ sacrifice and thank Him. The more I do this, the more God shows me how important it is to take part of this. He teaches me the significance of this new covenant. It helps me recognize the Lord as my Savior for dying to give me freedom from my sins so I can fellowship with God. Taking the body and blood of Jesus means I can be healed because Jesus took His beating for my healing.

He himself carried our sins in His body on the cross so we would be dead to sin and live for righteousness. Our instant healing flowed from His wounding. 1 Peter 2: 24

The Bible admonishes us to approach this covenant meal with holiness and humility.

So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment on yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. 1 Corinthians 11: 27-30

This simply means to pray before you begin and confess any sin and anything that may be separating you from God. Don’t let anger with someone, unforgiveness, offense, or anything else come between you and the Lord, or you and someone else. Acknowledge and admit it to the Lord and ask for forgiveness.

“And when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you withhold forgiveness from others, your Father withholds forgiveness from you.” Matthew 6: 14-15

If possible, if it’s something between you and another person, go and ask forgiveness from them and make it right. Unforgiveness is a big hinderance to answered prayer and will separate you from God.

For if we were judging ourselves thoroughly, we wouldn’t be coming under judgment. 1 Corinthians 11: 31

As Paul explains, when we judge ourselves, we examine our hearts and tell the Lord and receive forgiveness. I like to recite the Lord’s Prayer before I take communion. When I pray, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me… I follow it with, I choose with my will to forgive every offense, whether I am aware of it or not. This way, if there is something I’m not currently aware of in my heart I still present it and purposefully choose to forgive. I don’t want anything separating me from Jesus.

After I’ve taken the body and blood, I add a prayer to thank Jesus for sending Holy Spirit to live in me and help me get to know Him better. Holy Spirit lives in us and teaches us and reveals mysteries from the Word when we read it. Being saved means we become new. Our sin-stained nature is renewed.

Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new. 2 Corinthians 5: 17

Now Christ lives His life in you! And even though your body may be dead because of the effects of sin, His life-giving Spirit imparts life to you because you are fully accepted by God. Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, He will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you! Romans 8: 10-11

Guard well this incomparable treasure by the Spirit of Holiness living within you.

2 Timothy 1: 14

In a separate post titled Celebrating Communion I share the prayers I say when I take communion. Feel free to use it as a starting point for your devotion time to share communion.