Today Daily Devotional

I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.

— Psalm 131:2

Here is an unusual question: What does love taste like?

Maybe you associate love with a special food you enjoy on a particular holiday. Or maybe it has to do with a dish that is made “just right” by a family member or a friend.

As human beings, many of us first learn the concept of love not through someone explaining it to us but through food that we can taste and enjoy.

When a baby is born, one of the first things it learns to expect regularly is milk or a milk substitute. It tastes good, and it makes them feel satisfied, content, and safe. As the child receives this loving gift again and again, their brain develops. In particular, a region of the brain develops that allows them to trust the giver. And when they trust the giver, they learn to love.

When you and I regularly taste the bread and juice of the Jesus-meal, our whole being can learn how to love the Lord our giver. We can feel satisfied, content, and safe. We grow to trust the Lord, and we learn how to love God, our Creator and sustainer, who always takes care of us.

Lord and God, may we always taste and see that you are good. May we continue to grow in faith, hope, and love for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

You are . . . a royal priesthood . . . that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

— 1 Peter 2:9

Here’s a question: What was the main job of a priest in the Bible?

The priest’s role was to serve as a mediator between God and the people, approaching God on behalf of the people and helping the people to receive God’s instruction and blessing.

The priests of God’s people were appointed to teach God’s law, explaining how to live in relationship with the holy God, turning away from sin and seeking to live God’s way. In Exodus 19:6 we read that God called his people to be a whole nation of priests so that they could bring God’s blessings to the nations.

In the New Testament, this same mission is given to the church. The church is made up of all people who follow Jesus, who is both our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) and our Savior from sin (Matthew 1:21). By his death on a cross, he paid the price of our sin to reconcile us with God and to give us new life forever with him.

Through Jesus, God has provided for each one of us the way out of sin to full life.

Heavenly Father, when we eat the Lord’s Supper, recognizing Jesus’ gift of himself for our sake, may we know your justice and mercy so that we, your priests, may be enlivened to share your good news with the world. Amen.

Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. . . .

— Philippians 3:20

One of my favorite movies is the animated film Up. In this film, an old man named Carl attaches thousands of helium filled balloons to his house, which then takes him and his young friend Russell up and away to fantastical adventures.

Before eating the Lord’s Sup­per, Christians in some traditions pray these words, “We lift up our hearts to the Lord.”

After Jesus died and was raised to life again, he ascended up and away to heaven. But Jesus is never far away from his people, especially when they worship, hear God’s Word, and eat the meal he gave them.

But this leads to a practical question: when we eat this meal together, does Jesus come down from heaven to meet with us on earth? John Calvin, a French pastor who lived 500 years ago, answered, “No. Actual­ly, through the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit, we, the church, are pulled up to heaven to meet with Jesus.” So even as we sit in worship, somehow our space has been pulled up to overlap with heaven. Some theologians have called this Calvin’s “vir­tual” theory of the Lord’s Supper.

Someday, when Jesus comes again, heaven will come down to earth with him, and all who believe in him will be able to live with him. Then, with heaven and earth completely overlapping, all creation will be renewed, and we will enjoy full life with the Lord forever (Revelation 21-22).

Lord, may your kingdom fully come on earth as it is in heaven. Till then, draw us up to you by your Spirit. Amen.

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

— Acts 1:9

Let me ask you a question: Where is heaven?

This is not an easy question to answer. But perhaps your first reaction is to look up, or maybe to point up with your finger. This is how the ancients thought about heaven. But we humans today have been to outer space, and we know it stretches farther than we can imagine—and we have not found God’s throne floating around out there.

After his death and resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven. He was “taken up” from the ground, and “a cloud hid him” from the sight of his followers. Jesus went up and behind something to somewhere. So while heaven may be up, it is also apparently a dimension that exists behind or beyond our three-dimensional world. Perhaps heaven is actually quite near to us, just beyond a veil or curtain in our 3-D world.

Even more important, though, we can experience a bit of heaven whenever God draws us close. One of the ways this can happen is when the church gathers for worship. And I think Christ draws us especially close when we take part in the meal he has given us. In the actions of receiving and giving bread and wine (or juice), when Christ tells us that these elements are his body and blood and we are spiritually nourished, heaven and earth intersect, and we are blessed and strengthened.

Christ our Lord, thank you for drawing us close and allowing us to experience a bit of heaven when we gather to eat at your table. Amen.

Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

— John 6:35

God had rescued his people from slavery in Egypt, and they soon found themselves in a barren desert without food. But God knew what his people needed before they asked him, and God told Moses that “bread from heaven” would rain down for them (Exodus 16:4). Bread from heaven? Really?

Psalm 78 is even more descriptive: “[God] opened the doors of the heavens; he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Human beings ate the bread of angels. . . .” (vv. 24-25).

In John 6, Jesus compares himself to this heavenly bread. Jesus too came from heaven to earth. He too came to give life to humanity. He even says, “Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.”

Our receiving of Christ into our lives is reflected in our reception of the heavenly food he gives us in the Lord’s Supper.

Though we are not “saved” by eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper, eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper helps us grow ever deeper into the abundant Christ-life that God gives us.

Lord Jesus, each day, and especially when you give us your heavenly food, may we receive you and all your good gifts, that we may have full life forever with you. Amen.

When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

— Exodus 16:15

The Israelites in the wilderness had little faith in God’s goodness, and they had little imagination for how God might provide for them. But, just as God had promised, they found “thin flakes like frost” on the desert floor. According to Numbers 11:7-8, these flakes were like coriander seed, and cakes of it tasted like they were made with olive oil. The flakes were whitish-yellow like a resin called bdellium. It is worth noting here that bdellium was one of the valuable resources in Eden (Genesis 2:12, RSV). Perhaps the author was pointing out that just as God provided resources in Eden, God was again providing for his people in the desert.

The Israelites’ first reaction to this substance is understandable: “What is it?” Moses replied that it was bread from God. Eventually it became known as manna, which sounds like the Hebrew for “What is it?” The people did not fully understand this food, but they could still receive it and be nourished by it.

Throughout Christian history many scholars have argued about the bread and wine (or juice) given at the Lord’s Supper. What is it, really? How does God use it to give us spiritual nourishment? These are important discussions that can help us reflect on God’s power and love. But it is more important to eat and drink, remembering that Jesus gave himself for the forgiveness of our sins.

Lord, your ways can be mysterious, but we know that your love is more than enough for us, in Jesus. Amen.

“‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

— Exodus 16:12

After God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt, they soon found themselves out in the desert without food and water. And here the people defaulted to complaining and wondering if God wanted anything good for them.

After being away from slavery for just a short while, their memory got distorted: “Remember Egypt, where we had plenty to eat? Those were the good old days!”

God had done amazing miracles to deliver his people from Egypt. But it would take time and many trials for them to learn to trust God to provide for them each day.

God endured their grumbling and graciously rained down food upon them. In the evening they received quail for meat, and in the morning they discovered thin flakes of a mysterious “bread from heaven” on the ground.

My African friends—many of whom know what it means to have to trust God for “daily bread”—often say, “God makes a way where there is no way.”

When we come to the Lord’s table, we receive the miraculous gift of grace in the form of bread and wine (or juice). This simple practice can actual­ly train us in the discipline of trusting God.

God takes care of his people.

Lord, trusting you does not come naturally to us. Thank you for enduring our grumbling and impatience and for showing us, again and again, that you will take care of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.”

— Genesis 3:17

As we noted yesterday, God placed human beings in a gar­den sanctuary where God could live and work with them to bring about the flourishing of his world.

But through the deceit of the serpent, humans were tempted to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. They desired to be “like God, knowing good and evil.” But the hidden reality was that, unlike God, human beings could only know good and evil by becoming a mingled mess of good and evil. As they ingested the fruit, brokenness moved into every part of their being.

Genesis describes the broken­ness that followed as a “curse,” especially in relationships. Humans’ relationships with themselves, with one another, with nature, and with God became damaged. At the same time, though, God pronounced that someday the serpent, along with the curse of sin and death, would be defeated.

And in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and by his resurrection, all of that became true. Now the curse is being undone. And when we eat the Jesus-meal, the Lord’s Supper, our damaged relationships can begin to mend. We receive God’s restoring nourishment in our own lives, and we share the meal with one another. In addition, from the cursed ground we can still grow good food by which God communicates his love and care for us.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the love by which you gave yourself for us, and for the grace that restores all things. Amen.

In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

— Genesis 2:9

In the beginning, as God developed his new world, he formed a garden in which he could live in loving partnership with human beings. God ­wanted humans to flourish, and he wanted creation to flourish through their care for it. In the Garden of Eden human beings lived together in harmony with the rest of creation, serving and communing with God.

There humans were free to eat from any tree they wanted—except one called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Maybe you know how this story goes—humans disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, bringing chaos into God’s good world (Genesis 3).

Why did they eat the fruit when they were told not to? Well, it all began with temptation and desire. They were tempted to think that the fruit would make them like God, knowing good and evil, and they began desiring what was forbidden. They were tempted to think that God was keeping good things from them.

In the Lord’s Supper, God is saying, essentially, “No, I am not keeping good things from you. See, just as I did long ago, I give you good things to eat, to heal you and to nourish you. By this gift from my hand, may you realize that you cannot flourish apart from my love.”

Father, thank you for your plans for us—not to harm us but to allow us to grow and flourish in your good world. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

“Now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him. . . .”

— 1 John 3:2

When God led his people out of slavery in Egypt, he instructed them to make bread without yeast. God was coming soon to rescue them, he said, and there wouldn’t be time to wait around for the bread to rise. Further, they needed simple, compact bread for the journey. Today some churches use unleavened bread at the Lord’s Supper to symbolize that they too are people on a journey as they follow God to serve him in this world.

On the other hand, some churches choose to emphasize hope in God’s coming kingdom, in which we are promised an abundance of good things, symbolized by the richest of foods and the finest of wines (Isaiah 25:6-9). So they use bread made with yeast, risen and baked just right, to reflect that even in our broken world today we can experience and even taste a bit of the new world that Christ will bring when he comes again.

Theologians sometimes talk about living in the “now, and not yet.” Christ has come to defeat sin, death, and evil once for all. And yet we wait for him to complete the job. So whether we use leavened or unleavened bread—both can help us reflect on our place in God’s great plans for the world.

Lord, living in the time between your first and second comings can be uncomfortable. We rejoice in your victory, but we long for you to fulfill it completely. Till then, we thank you for food to sustain us. Amen.