I was in a hurry. Nevertheless, my three‑year‑old, Heidi,
decided that it was time to have a conversation. I ignored her,
but this did not stop
Heidi. Instead, I heard her talking to herself, “I guess Daddy is deaf
today. He won’t talk to me.”
I knew then that my schedule could wait. “What do you want?”
I asked.
“What does the bread mean, Daddy?”
“The bread?”
“Yes, like you have in comm-om‑onion, you know!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, you mean Communion.”
“Yeah, comm‑om‑onion. What does it mean?”
“You tell me,” I prodded.
“It means Jesus’ body, ’member, Daddy?” she reminded me.
“That’s right,” I affirmed.
“And what does the juice mean?”
I played along with the game, recalling that I had gone
through this same lineup with her several weeks before.
“Come on, Daddy, what does it mean?” she begged, breaking into
my recollections.
“Well, you tell me.”
“It means Jesus’ blood test!” she proclaimed, proudly and
sincerely.
“Thank You, Lord,” I said to myself, laughing out loud at the
tyke beside me.
“Why are you laughing?” she asked.
“You said that the juice represents Jesus’ blood test. You
mean that the grape juice represents His blood, not His blood test,” I
corrected.
“Oh,” was her simple reply.
Then I realized that God had just taught me a lesson—a new
one
concerning the meaning of Communion. The blood indeed represents Jesus’
blood test!
And so He endured that test, even to “the death of the cross.”
Thanks be to God eternally that Jesus passed the blood test to secure
salvation for all who live by
its power.
My three‑year‑old had instructed her minister‑father in
another layer of God’s communication. And I had almost missed it.
Had I persisted in being in too much of a hurry to listen, I
would have missed it altogether.
J. Grant Swank writes from Windham, Maine.
