“Only when we drink deeply of God’s grace for ourselves can we give grace abundantly.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – February 17, 2026
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38
At my church, when we come to the communion table, the celebrant raises the bread and declares, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,” to which the congregation replies, “Therefore let us keep the feast.” The proclamation feels both somber and celebratory, and as the words recently left my lips in unison with my brothers and sisters in Christ standing around me, it got me thinking about this feast we were committing ourselves to keeping. The communion feast feels somber because it brings us back, body and soul, to the immense sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross. But it also feels festive because the grace we receive in that sacrament is so bountifully gracious, it is more than enough to satisfy each undeserving soul that partakes of it. In coming to that feast, we are bound together in true communion as recipients of God’s unfathomable grace. But what, I recently pondered, does it mean to “keep the feast”?
I think the short story “Babbette’s Feast” (also an Academy Award-winning film) provides a beautiful picture of what keeping the feast could look like. In the story, a community known for its austere piety as well as tight-fistedness towards one another is invited to an unexpected, sumptuous feast. As the individuals (many of them nursing old hostilities towards their neighbors at the table) partake of the bountiful goodness of the meal, something extraordinary happens: old grudges are forgotten, hostilities melt away, and the guests find themselves laughing and loving one another. As each one receives a feast he or she did not deserve, the grace of it flows out as grace towards others, and true communion takes place.
Surely, part of what is meant by keeping the feast is that we continually come and receive a feast that Christ has laid out for us, one we know we could never afford; for only in receiving can we become generous in spirit towards our brothers and sisters. If you find yourself struggling to extend grace to others, might it be that you have not recently tasted and seen just how good the Lord is? Perhaps you’ve slipped into a scarcity mindset and forgotten that at the Lord’s table is continual hunger-and-thirst-quenching grace. Just imagine how keeping that feast might transform us, as individuals, as families, as communities, as a Church.
Prayer
Lord Christ, thank you for your body and blood, given for me. Forgive me when I forget to come to the feast of your sacrifice, and forget to taste and see just how good you are. Teach me what it means to keep your feast every day of my life. Amen.
Application
Are you shouldering any bitterness or struggling to give grace? Bring these to the Lord and ask him to help you receive his grace so that you might be able to give it.
Related Reading
Psalm 34:8; Isaiah 55:1; John 13:34; Luke 22:19
Worship Resource
Michael W. Smith: Hymn for Communion
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