The Colonel's Visit
Originally scheduled for
June 28
Children
growing up in the home of a young military officer will quickly find that
having the colonel over for dinner is no simple affair – not even for the
children:
The
house must be cleaned, even your bedroom.
The
table will be set with the good china and silver, and set to micrometric precision.
The
children will be scrubbed and well dressed.
Most
important, the children will be on their very best behavior. This is not a
time for dad to find out just how mean you can be.
There
are certain parallels here to Communion; we might ask these questions:
Is
your house clean – are your relations with family and friends free from
thoughts of vengeance, for example? Can Christ accept your worship if not?
Like
the best china and silver, do you bring your best to your Lord? (You might
want to look at that offering check.)
Are
you, personally, clean? Have you repented of your sins and asked your Lord’s
forgiveness?
Are
you on your best behavior? Do you approach this memorial with reverence and
sincerity?
Sometimes
we miss these things in preparing for Communion. Given what we know of its
importance, how does this happen?
One
reason is that Communion comes so often. It’s not “special.” But Christ is.
Distractions
– of all kinds – do their damage. One reason we pray “in the closet” is to
practice tuning out those distractions.
Worst
of all is sin in your life – clean hands are required.
Sometimes it
seems that the colonel gets better treatment than the Christ. Just who ranks
number one in your life?
