Bible Reading: Psalm 27:1-3; Isaiah 41:10

Ellie and Keely had been friends for a long time. They lived on the same street and went to the same school. But now Keely’s family was moving away.

On their last day together, the girls played at Ellie’s house while Keely’s parents packed. “I’m already sad,” said Ellie. “I keep thinking about tomorrow and the day after that. Who will I play with then?”

“I wish I didn’t have to go,” said Keely with a sigh.

Just then Ellie’s mom called them to the kitchen for lunch. This is our last lunch together, Ellie thought sadly. Then she had an idea. “I know what we can do,” she said, lifting up her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “We both eat a lot of these, right? So whenever we do, let’s think of each other and remember all the fun things we did together.”

“Good idea!” said Keely. “We’ll be peanut butter and jelly friends!”

Ellie’s mom smiled at the girls. “Your sandwiches will be reminders of your friendship. Does that make you think of anything you heard at church yesterday?”

“Um…oh, I remember!” said Ellie. “At our Communion service, Pastor Jim read about Jesus eating the Passover supper with His disciples just before He was crucified. Jesus said the bread and wine were reminders of His body and blood.”

“Oh yeah!” Keely said. “He told His disciples that when they got together and ate and drank those things, they should think about Him and what He did. And He said they should remember that He’ll come back again someday.”

“That’s right!” said Mom. “Communion is a special time when the church remembers the sacrifice Jesus made when He died on the cross to save us from sin. It’s a time to remember what He did for us and look forward to the day when we’ll celebrate Communion with Him when He returns.”

Ellie smiled. “So now whenever I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I’ll remember you, Keely—and look forward to when your family comes back to visit so we can have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together again!”

“Right,” said Keely. “And even better than that, one day we’ll have Communion together with Jesus!”

–Myrina D. McCullough