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Two days ago, we started the first day of Lent. It is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. It is marked by fasting, both from food and festivities. On Good Friday itself, Christians the world over will be taking time to remember Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. He is our Passover Lamb, the only One worthy to stand in our place and take God’s judgment on our behalf.

Like many others, whenever I pause in my daily life to ponder the fact that Jesus, the very Son of God, came down in human form to die for my sins and redeem me for all eternity, I am overwhelmed with gratitude even as I am covered with the shame that I have cost my Lord so much. God loves me so much, how can I love Him less?

More than that, how could I live each day without remembering Jesus in my words and my deeds? Do I make decisions and plans without reference to God and what His Word says? Do I live my life, this life that God has given me, as though He was not there?

The reality of our daily life is that we all do, at least from time to time, forget that we have been redeemed. Thankfully, God knows that. God knows all about us. As noted in John 2:24-25 “Jesus knew all men… He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

This is why in the last supper, just before His crucifixion, Jesus instructed His believers to remember Him through the practice of communion:

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” (Luke 22:17-20 NASB)

Jesus understood the fragility of the human will and spirit, and our propensity to forget. Communion prompts us every time to remember what God has done for us and helps us to re-adjust our focus to His will and purpose for our lives. Even more so then, the Lent period brings us back to a time of thanksgiving and worship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Let us remember Jesus by:

• Praising God for the sacrificial love He has shown us because without Jesus, there is no way we can approach Him; and,
• Asking God to help us live this life fully for Him and daily remember what it cost Him.