Serious Business!

There was a little boy who once accompanied his mother to the worship assembly. The sermon he heard that day was about the death of Christ. He listened intently and as the preacher began to describe the actual crucifixion the boy began to weep and was soon sobbing out loud. His mother, who was apparently embarrassed by her son’s sobs, turned to him and whispered, “Don’t take it so seriously.” [Adapted from Jack Exum’s “The Art Of Illustrating”]

This should be given serious consideration in the church today. What a light view many display in their lives toward the greatest gift ever given on our behalf. As Christians we gather each first day of the week to partake of the memorial bread that represents Christ’s body that hung on the cross and the fruit of the vine which represents the blood Christ shed for our sins. By our neglect to gather to partake of this memorial do we not show that it isn’t important to us? The early church gave us the example of meeting on the first day of the week to break bread ( Acts 20:7). How many of these are there? -- ONE EVERY WEEK!

Our hearts should be touched deeply by the love of God and His only begotten Son. Our focus on the Lord’s supper should be taken seriously and not passed over lightly. We should not just go through the motions as a matter of habit, nor rush through as simply a small part of our worship together. We should meditate on the love of God, the power within the blood of Christ, and the grace it brings to the lives of each of us. Our heart should weep that God had to send His Son to die as a Sacrificial Lamb and suffer a humiliating death, not for Himself, but because of the sins of the world. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ( Romans 3:23) and anyone who says he has not sinned makes God a liar and the truth is not in that person ( 1 John 1:8-10). Christ’s blood was shed for each of us. He suffered and bled and died for you and me. What effect does that have on our lives? What does our life show in response to such love? I’m not trying to say we should mope around with long faces all the time, but we do need to remember “why” God sent His Son and be convicted by that individually. Let us not pass over our sins lightly, but be humble and realize we are sinners and let God exalt us ( James 4:10). We are sinners saved by the grace of God.

Paul stated…
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ( Romans 6:23 ESV)

We must be sorrowful and repent of our sins and realize daily, we are the reason Christ died.

BUT -- we can also shed tears of JOY because of the great love of both the Father and the Son. Hallelujah -- Christ died to save sinners! What a love! What other response can I help but give than to show my love for Him and the brethren than by joining together each Lord’s Day to partake of this great memorial and strive daily to live as close to God’s Will as I can, remembering with every step I take that God loves me and sent His Son to call me to repentance!

The memorial of Christ is something to be viewed seriously, but should also be viewed as a celebration of the love of Christ in His sacrifice for us and the power of His glorious resurrection and the great hope we have in Him. Because of Him we can experience great joy and peace.

Is there any way we could take it “too seriously”? Let us be serious about Christianity and our response to God’s love. After all -- SALVATION IS SERIOUS BUSINESS!

Have a great day TAKING GOD SERIOUSLY!
Carl
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[This focus was originally sent 09/20/1998 (Edited some with passage changed to ESV)]

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