Communion devotion: seek Jesus with all your heart
This devotional reflection invites us to examine our hearts as we come to the Lord’s table. Jesus’ question—“Who are you seeking?”—presses us to consider what we’re truly pursuing. The call is simple and searching: seek him fully, and let the rest go.
- Jesus’ question exposes what we’re really after.
- Communion invites honest self-examination and renewed focus.
- Because of who Jesus is, we can release what we cling to.
By Sandy Mayle
Who are you seeking?
It’s after midnight. A faint and flickering light appears through the olive trees of Gethsemane. Then another, and another, growing nearer, glowing brighter. The soldiers and religious leaders are coming. For Jesus.
As they approach him and his band of disciples, Jesus steps forward to meet them. Twice he asks them, “Who are you seeking?” And twice they reply, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
“I told you,” Jesus finally says, “that’s Me. So if I’m who you’re looking for, then let the rest go” (John 18:3-8).
As we come to the Lord’s table, we ourselves are approaching Jesus. And perhaps we hear him say to us just now, “Who are you seeking? What are you after?” We might be tempted to glibly reply, “You, of course. After all, here I am at your Communion table to remember your sacrifice and proclaim your death while I wait for your return.”
But before we answer Jesus, let’s first pause and examine our hearts. Who are we seeking? What are we after? Not just right now, but in our daily lives. As we face trouble, as we come face to face with temptation, as we make our choices and lock in our plans, are we looking for Jesus? Is he our focus? What about those people and things we run after, and then clutch and cling to? Will we entrust them all to him?
Let the rest go
Jesus says to us, “If I’m really who you’re looking for, then let the rest go. Step back from all you are pursuing; open your hand and release all you’re gripping.” We can safely let everyone else and everything else go and seek Jesus alone, because in and through him we will find everyone and everything that is best for us.
“You will seek me and find me,” the Lord said, “when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13, New International Version). As we come to his table today, is it Jesus we are seeking? Are we seeking him with all our heart?
Then let all the rest go.
Author: Sandy Mayle
Sandy Mayle is a freelance writer who lives in Erie, Pennsylvania.
