As we come to take part in the Lord’s Table, I was reminded of the verse that says that we need to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. We also need to think of the sacrifice the Lord did for us and the holy life that He lived on this earth. Let us turn to a verse in 2 Corinthians 4:11, “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” We need to constantly deny ourselves so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in us. Jesus also denied his own will when He was in this world and that is the path that we have to follow each day. Paul and all the disciples also denied their will each day. In 2 Corinthians 10:5,6 we read , “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” This is something we need to do each day – keeping our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. Many thoughts come to our mind each day and we need to put to death any thought that is against the supremacy of God in our life. The Holy Spirit can help us in this area. If we dwell a lot on a thought, we tend to be gripped by it and that may lead to anxiety, fear or judgment in our lives.
In Galatians 5:19-21 we read, “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” This is another area where we need to be careful – the deeds of the flesh. Even if we are in the flesh; and we have the tendency to dwell on our thoughts and perform the deeds of the flesh, the Holy Spirit can help us to have victory. In Romans we know the verse that says that the mind set on the flesh is death and the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. The mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God. Where do our minds dwell? Let us judge ourselves.
In the first verse that we read we saw about constantly putting our will to death. This is to be done in these 2 areas – thought and deeds. Let us examine our thoughts and deeds before we participate in the Lord’s table. God bless us all.
