02/16/2026
What nourishes our faith? What does our Spirit consume for its strength? When we go to the Lord’s Table we feed our souls the flesh and blood of Jesus, and this sustenance brings us life, eternal life. To consume the body of Christ is to bring Him inside us... to allow Him to dwell in a physical as well as spiritual sense within us. Communion, it is the life-giving nourishment of the Christian experience… it is the most wonderful and satisfying meal taken in the tiniest of morsels and smallest of sips… It is the enormity of eternity in the most meager of earthly portions.
“For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.”
John 6:55-57 ESV
The Word of God contains such a bounty for our spiritual table, but the main course, and the sweetest drink is that of Jesus Christ Himself. As we internalize Jesus and all He represents, we are changed. In Him, and with Him in us, we become that which our spirit has longed for since birth... redeemed, freed from sin’s hold on us, acceptable to God.
A couple of years ago, I walked into one of the finest restaurants in Nashville with my wife on my arm. It was our anniversary, and although we had dined in many wonderful restaurants before, this one was different. Everything about this place was elaborate and well-appointed, it was the essence of opulence at its peak, and despite being dressed up in our finest I still felt like I was just a little out of place. We had eaten at many fine restaurants over the years, but none were quite like this one. As we sat at our table chit chatting about the years we had spent together my mind kept retreating to our very first anniversary dinner. We were young then, and money was scarce so I had saved up, and taken Ann to Julio’s, what at the time was the finest restaurant in Nashville, a four-star French restaurant on West End.
Looking back, I recall how young we were then. I remember our naivety, and the look of fright on Ann’s face when they handed her the menu... there were no prices on the menu they gave to the ladies. Money was incredibly tight for us and this place was so expensive that she feared I would not be able to afford her meal if she chose something too costly. As it turned out, the waiter walked away, and we were able to find a small filet on the menu that we could afford. I laugh now because our meal took every dime I had saved up for the occasion, and yet afterwards I looked at my beautiful bride and said, “I’m still hungry... wanna go to McDonald’s?” to which she quickly responded “YES!”
The anniversary meal we had enjoyed this year would cost us many times more than our first anniversary dinner did, and although more filling, it was equally as good as the two tiny filets we had that night long ago, but, I would have traded it all; the incredible appetizers, the sizzling entrees, the calorie ladened sides, the splendid sauces, deep roux, delicious drinks, rich deserts, and fine coffees. I would have given up the lavish appointments, and the overly attentive service of the night, I would have given up everything, everything, if I could have gone back to the night of our first anniversary to sit again in McDonald’s with Ann as we laughed at how out of place we had felt in that fancy restaurant while we ate our familiar burgers and fries, still dressed in our finest clothes.
Our spiritual meal of communion is like that night so long ago; it is dining in the finest restaurant imaginable, but feeling as comfortable as Ann and I did in McDonalds. It is consuming life in its fullest with someone you can’t take your eyes off, and whose laughter warms you to the bone. It is joy unimaginable, it is youth, it is the essence of life in all its splendid intensity... it is everything that is and yet lies ahead in Jesus, and a meal that every one of us can afford.
I read a wonderful summation of such a meal that was written by Pastor Andrew Murray. He was trying to describe communion when he wrote these words...
“Glorious food! Heavenly bread! It imparts heavenly life to us. Love to God, blessed rest, true holiness, inward power, all that characterizes the life that is enjoyed in heaven. Let us be encouraged. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. He dwells in us. He is our food.” - Andrew Murray
We all have our own dream of what heaven will be like. For some of us it is larger than life, while others see it in lavish splendor, but for me it is thousands of tiny moments of joy and love held together by the single thread of Jesus Christ who has made it possible for my life to be one with His before our Heavenly Father.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ that nourishes my soul. I thank you for the redemption, joy, and thrill of life unending that you have extended to me through His sacrifice. Holy Father, I thank you for the taste of what is to come as I continue to experience my life here. Thank you for the lessons of hardship, the suffering of losses and all my hurts. I thank you for every joyous breath I have taken too, because all these challenges and moments of happiness have been simmered and cooked down into a sauce, a roux, and an essence of life in you. I know that the joy and love of a life well spent awaits me in eternity. The unsatisfying earthly meals, served in all their splendor, simply teach me of the true treasure of love that rests humbly in you, Father. Most Merciful Lord you are love, life and goodness, and you offer it to me without end. You give me a taste of eternity in the most precious and unassuming moments, in my greatest loves, and the tiny glimpses of joy that this life brings I receive but a glimmer of you now. But one day I will see you in all your glory. Nourish me Father, let the blood and body of your Son Jesus which he has served to me through His sacrifice, render the love of you, and provide to me the bolder flavor, and sustenance of what is to come at your table forevermore. Great are you Holy Father, and greatly to be praised! Hear me as I call out with the heavenly host… “Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who satisfies me in the much and the little alike, great is all you have given me through my faith in Jesus, and your love that is poured out in grace!” Let me see the endless sea of forgiveness in a single drop of wine, and the unending mountain peaks from a crumb of sacred bread. You are the great that abides in the least, and I honor and glorify you for that revelation.
“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:12-13 ESV
“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”
1 Timothy 6:6-7 ESV
Hallelujah! And Amen!
Rich Forbes