Seeking Communion
I grew up in a mid-sized Southern Baptist church located in the Bible Belt. In this church, we took communion once a month and on special occasions. The pastor would read from Luke 22 and pray over the elements. The deacons would work their way down the aisles of the sanctuary, passing plates of crackers and juice through the pews of people. The organ and piano played hymns softly in the background until everyone had received their portion. Taking communion never seemed like a big deal. The elements just came to you.
When I was in college, I began to encounter churches that served communion a little differently. Instead of having the elements just come to you, you had to go to the elements. The “body” and the “blood” were situated at the front of the sanctuary or along the sidewalls. If you chose to pursue that aspect of a relationship with God, then you had to step away from the comfort zone of your seat.
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Seeking God in our daily lives doesn’t mean reading our Bible and praying for ten minutes every morning. It means thirsting for God.
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As I went back and forth between these different approaches to communion, I saw a certain advantage to the second approach. When you are required to step away from a chair or a pew to pursue God, you are no longer passively taking communion. You are taking an active role in seeking communion with Christ.
If we take communion to be more than just a ceremony and to involve a relationship (take a look at Merriam-Webster’s second definition of communion), then it would be wise for us to take a more active role in the ceremony…and in seeking God during our daily lives.
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. -Psalm 63:1-8
Seeking God in our daily lives doesn’t mean reading our Bible and praying for ten minutes every morning. It means thirsting for God. It means longing for Him from our head to our toes. It means acknowledging that our love is nothing compared to what He can offer and, as a result, asking Him to replace what we perceive as love with His love. It means finding satisfaction in nothing but Him and turning that satisfaction into a life filled with praise that others can’t help but notice. It means that we think of Him when we are falling asleep and we wake up with His name on our lips. We cling to Him and depend on Him rather than on our own abilities.
All of that may be daunting. So, seeking God may start with just reading your Bible and praying for ten minutes. Maybe those ten minutes will grow to consume your morning run or an afternoon commute. Perhaps you decide to keep a journal of your prayers and the ways you see God showing up. Or maybe seeking God in your daily life means that you pursue a relationship with a godly mentor (email us -- we'd be happy to help!). To figure out what this looks like for you, it may take a bit of time…a bit of seeking.