When I think of communion, I must confess that my first thought is of grape juice and broken up crackers. To a non-Christian, communion must seem like a completely stupid and meaningless thing that we do every so often, just because we get hungry in church. Oh, how little truth there is in that thought! Communion has nothing to do with grape juice and crackers, but so much to do with the Man who sacrificed Himself so that we can live with a hope and a joy that can never be smothered.
Communion is normally something that passes pretty much in the same manner every time; the elements get passed around, the pastor takes a passage from 1 Corinthians, there's a prayer, and then you drink the grape juice and eat the broken cracker. End of story, right? Not so today! I was on the point of zoning out when my pastor said something that I've never contemplated before. I tried to put it in my own words; here's what struck me today. When we take communion, we not only declare our faith to those around us, but also to the spiritual realm; to principalities - angels and demons alike. And I thought about it and realized woah, this is interesting! So, what he's saying is that when we take communion and strengthen our relationship with our Savior, we're being spiritually marked. And I got this picture in my head of all of us sitting in our chairs and above us, on one side, angels. And on the other side, were demons; neither group doing anything but looking down, and as I followed their gaze, I saw they they were looking down at our heads and there were markings on the tops of our heads. I can't explain to you exactly what the markings looked like or what they were made of, but they were a deep maroon color and they were only over the heads of those who have a personal relationship with Christ.
It never occurred to me that we might have marks on us. It makes sense to me now, but I confess that I haven't thought it over before today. It actually fills me with awe, to realize that everything we do is marking us; not just in this realm, but also in a realm that we can barely catch a glimpse of. It gives me something to consider and wonder about and it also gives me reasons to alter some of my would-be actions. How about you?
<3 Mik
