By Daniel Schantz
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19, New King James Version).
A little girl was sitting with her mother in church, swinging her legs out and back in time with the music, and singing, “Some glad morning, when this life is o”er, I”ll fly away. . . .”
Then the music slowed, and the tune changed to “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.” Suddenly several men got up out of the audience, gathered at the back of the sanctuary, then marched down the middle aisle to a big, wooden table.
The little girl stood up in her pew to see what the men were doing. She watched as an older man lifted a white cloth off of some round trays, and then handed the trays to the other men. The men fanned out around the room, passing the trays down each aisle.
The little girl plopped back down on the pew. She watched the tray coming toward her. She noted the cute little crystal glasses that made a nice clicking sound in the tray, and the Chiclet-shaped pieces of bread in the center tray. When she smelled grape juice, she perked up.
“Refreshments!” she said to herself. “Just like preschool.”
When the tray came to her, she eagerly reached for a cup, but her mother”s hand closed gently around her wrist and pulled her hand back.
The little girl glared at her mother, her eyes full of questions.
“It”s not refreshments,” her mother whispered. “I”ll explain later.”
Rebuffed, the little lady slumped in her seat, a frown on her lips.
But the little girl was right. The Lord”s Supper is indeed “refreshments,” of the best kind.
It”s refreshing to think about the Bread of Life and the hope-giving blood of Christ.
It”s refreshing to open up to an understanding Father about your fears and failures, knowing that he will not scold you, but rather sympathize.
It”s refreshing to think about that day when life is over and we spread our wings and “fly away, to a land where joys shall never end.”
Enjoy your time of refreshment that comes “from the presence of the Lord.”
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Dan Schantz is professor emeritus at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri.
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