At every meal

Christians call this Holy Week. We remember that Jesus completed the task of giving His life to pay for the sins of the world and rose in newness of life, offering eternal forgiveness to all who would receive His sacrifice.

Maundy Thursday was a service in the church I grew up in. Maundy means “command or order,” and as Jesus and the disciples ate together, He gave them a new command, to love one another. Part of the evening was His initiation of communion – Jesus said to remember Him and what He did every time they ate and drank.

Today, I ponder the story of a preschool boy who took Jesus at His word. His mother told me their family was eating dinner at a restaurant one evening when her older son said “Doesn’t Jesus’ body taste good tonight?” In the manner of most young boys, I’m sure it wasn’t spoken quietly and other diners probably heard his words. Perhaps the simplicity of his faith stuck in their hearts. I heard them too when the story was recounted and today, I want to remind myself of a lesson sometimes set aside.

God says He prizes childlike faith. Jesus said:

Matthew 18: 2-4  And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

We can make faith too complicated at times with our intellectualization of God’s truth. This young boy believed Jesus and remembered Him when he ate. Knowing this child, I suspect he remembered at every meal whether he expressed it verbally or not. I want to learn the lesson more deeply that every moment of every day, God wants to be part of my life. He wants me even more dependent on His leading by the Holy Spirit in every decision and every thought. Since rejecting the independent spirit that has troubled me most of my life, the sweetness of dependence on God grows in my soul. His presence is a wonderful place to live. Do you live there?