May I Get Your Drink Order?
The server at the restaurant comes up and says: “May I get your drink order while you look at the menu?”
“Sure,” I say. My wife will chime in without thinking, “I’ll have a Diet Coke.” Then I say, “Water for me.” This performance is repeated with Broadway-like consistency at any restaurant we go to. The only hiccup in the script is if the server says, “Will Diet Pepsi work?”
When eating a meal, I can eat an entire meal without having anything to drink. This started for me when I went to drinking water with my meals. Because the water doesn’t really “add” any taste to my meal, I can actually do without it during the meal itself. If I have water with my meal, I’ll drink it. But, if I don’t, I’m fine with that too. At home, I usually don’t drink anything with my meals.
On the other hand, my wife enjoys her Diet Coke with her meals. She will enjoy the Diet Coke before she eats, while she is eating and after she eats as well. For her, the Diet Coke is one of the items of the meal. She has her meat, vegetables, salad, and a Diet Coke. Her drink of preference is something she enjoys and adds to her enjoyment of the meal.
Here’s the point, if something adds to a meal, people will tend to have it and enjoy it as part of the meal. If something does not add to the meal, people will not really care if it is there or not.
Jesus included something very important in the last meal He had with His disciples. He added the cup. When He passed around the cup He said:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
He said that the cup is the “new covenant,” the new promise from God. And, the promise is found “in my blood.” There is incredible significance found in the blood of Jesus.
Ephesians 1:7 says:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Through His blood we have redemption. Through His blood we have forgiveness. Through His blood we receive the riches of His grace.
The blood that flowed from Jesus on the cross made it possible for redemption, forgiveness, and grace to flow to you.
Take some time today to contemplate all that you have received from Jesus through His blood. Have you experienced the power of the blood in your life? If so, where would you be without the redeeming blood of Jesus?
What sin would you still be in without the forgiving blood of Jesus? What sin can you bring today to be covered by and washed away by the blood of Jesus? What struggle in life is God’s grace seeing you through because of the blood of Jesus?
(Questions/responses? jeff.perkins@mbclife.org)