Traditions and Family~

My day was filled with emotions and family as I attended a funeral of my Uncle Charlie. He was a good man that enjoyed life fully. His heart was full of happiness and was always giving away laughter. He will be missed dearly. Family is so important to me. When I lived away for 20 years as a military wife, I was constantly homesick. No matter what, we managed to make it back home for 2-4 weeks every year. Never take for granted the people you love. I am so thankful for the family I do have. We are full of traditions that have been passed down that keep us together and united. Traditions are so important because they remind us of who we are and where we came from. That brings me to this evening events. I attended my church tonight for a lesson on Passover. I am not Jewish, but as any follower of Christ, we must know the history of Jesus and His traditions to know where and who we are today as believers. It was very interesting to eat the herbs, fruit, nuts and juice from the vine and to understand their meaning. The Jewish people celebrate Passover to remind them the story of freedom and protection from God.

Exodus 12:20-22 (New Living Translation)

21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. 22 Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning.

26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ 27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.’” When Moses had finished speaking, all the people bowed down to the ground and worshiped.

God protected his people from death. A lamb was sacrificed and the blood protected their homes as they obeyed God's instructions. Just as today, we are protected by Christ's sacrifice as the Holy Lamb. We are free and no longer slaves to sin.
That is what communion is now. A reminder of what Christ did for us so that we may have freedom in Him.

1 Corinthians 11 (New Living Translation)

1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against[g] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,[h] you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. 32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

Dear Father, thank you for your Son who willingly gave everything for us so that we may have life forever and be free from the sins of this world. Help us to be reminded of these things every time we take the wine and bread and examine our hearts to be more Christlike so that we can be just as willing to give.