Broken Bread, Poured Out Wine

When I was a lad, following him around in our garden on the side of a Southeastern Kentucky hill, I wanted very much to be like my father. I still do. Only now, I want to be like my Father. "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children." (Eph. 5:1, NIV)

As we approach this season of festive celebration, we will go through great pangs to insure that our house is properly decorated and our celebration feasts are immaculately prepared. We will welcome family and friends, invited and drop-ins alike, into our homes and hearts and make sure that they have the best of whatever we have to offer. We anxiously await the chances to break bread together; we save the best wine for this time of year. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

What we are really celebrating is the fact that our Father has prepared and offers the very best He has for us. He has become, in His son Jesus Christ, broken bread and poured our wine that we may be fed Truth; truth that shows us the Way to Life (John 14:6). His body was broken for our sin, His blood poured out for our redemption. Broken bread, poured out wine. For this we are thankful, merry, and happy!

This season, remember that He not only calls us to celebrate His Gift, or for us to give gifts, but He calls us to BE gifts, also. He calls us not only to break bread and pour out wine to celebrate His Kingdom's coming but to BECOME broken bread and poured out wine for His Kingdom's sake. As Oswald Chambers has said, "If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.

Become broken bread, poured out wine for His Kingdom's sake. After all, isn't that what He is?