Scripture: Psalm 16:5a
A cup may be full of blessings or curses.
Read on to drink from the cup of blessing!
They canceled school. Instead of doing homework I went sledding.
As I returned home from sleigh riding in the new-fallen snow, Mom handed me a steaming cup of homemade hot chocolate.
What a cup of blessing!
When the Hebrew people lifted a cup of drink to their lips, they tasted blessing.
They drank from a cup of abundance as the fruit of their land flourished, blessed by sunshine, rain, and protection from their enemies.
For short, King David says, “The Lord is …my cup.”
The Lord is the Shepherd who provides the cup.
A cup was also a cup of judgment in the Bible because Israel fixed its desire on things other than God alone.
As such, the people must drink this “cup of his wrath.”
Every one of us has set our hearts on things other than God.
For this, the punishment is the cup of His wrath.
Now, we celebrate the cross and resurrection because Jesus drank from the cup of God’s wrath freeing us from the punishment for our sins.
Now, the cup Jesus offers is the cup of forgiveness for sin.
The cup of his curse became the cup of our blessing.
Drink from his cup of blessing today!
Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank you for drinking the cup of the curse that I may drink your cup of blessing.
In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.
Tom Thomas
Forest, VA
A daily Lenten devotional reprinted with permission from The Society of St. Andrew to inspire help sharing nourishing food with neighbors in need.
Every $1 donated provides more than 40 servings to those in greatest need. A donation of $47 for the 47 days in Lent provides more than 1,880 servings.
What a way to celebrate the resurrection of hope and lift the cup of salvation for our hungry neighbors!
First Reflections 