Do This in Remembrance of Me

1 Corinthians 11:24

I’m amazed at how God’s Word can be so familiar and yet filled with fresh insight when I ask Him to show me what He wants me to see as I read. I’m currently reading in Exodus about how God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh asking him to let God’s people go from their bondage in Egypt. Each time Pharaoh refused, his heart was hardened. Each time the Lord sent plagues throughout the land of Egypt.  Pharaoh would relent and agree to let the people go, but then change his mind and refuse.  But each time God made a provision to save His people from these plagues that the Egyptians suffered.

Finally, God told Moses and Aaron His plan to kill the firstborn of all people and animals throughout Egypt at midnight.  He gave instructions to His people that would save them from this final plague of death. Each household was instructed to kill a lamb and apply its blood to the lintel and doorposts of their homes.

For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever (Exodus 12:23).

What God spoke to my heart this week was how this scripture illustrates what God did to save us from bondage to sin and death.  He offered His own Son as the Lamb of God who takes sins of the world (John 1:29)).  Just as His people in Egypt had to put blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes, we have to personally receive Jesus’ sacrifice — His blood, that takes away our sin.  I spent time thinking back over my life and my sinful choices that could have led to God’s judgment.  I had to confess that so often I take for granted God’s love, grace and mercy, His promise of eternal life.  But the price He paid was the ultimate cost – the sacrifice of His own Son.  I’m filled with renewed gratitude for the price He paid to save me. 

In 1 Corinthians 11:24, Paul writes about the last Passover supper Jesus shared with His disciples: 

The Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.  In the same way, He took the cup also after supper, saying “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.

As believers, we celebrate the Lord’s supper by taking communion together. The bread and the cup remind us of Jesus’ body which was broken and His blood that was shed when He was crucified.  That is the provision God made for us to be freed from our slavery to sin and receive His salvation.  The “promised land” for believers is eternal life with Him.  He asks us to remember!

PERSONAL REFLECTION

I encourage you to spend some time with the Lord thinking about what your life would be like without Him.

Ask Him to give you a fresh awareness of the price He paid to save you, and a heart filled with gratitude.

If you haven’t yet received His offer of salvation from sin, you can pray and confess your sin and invite Him into your life as Lord and Savior.  Find a friend who knows the Lord who can help encourage you in your new relationship with the Lord.