1 Cor. 11:28 – “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

If we would come to the Lord’s Supper with prepared hearts, we must come to the sacrament with longing hearts. We should say, as Christ, With desire I have desired to eat this passover? (Luke 22:15). If God prepares a feast, we must get an appetite. Why has the Lord frowned upon his people of late but to punish their apathy, and provoke their appetite? As David longed for the water of the well of Bethlehem (2 Sam. 23:15), so should we long for Christ in the sacrament. Desires are the sails of the soul, which are spread to receive the gale of an heavenly blessing.

To help to excite holy desires and longings: Consider the magnificence and royalty of this Supper: it is a heavenly banquet. “In this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees” (Isa. 25:6). Here is the juice of that grape which comes from the true vine. Under these elements of the bread and wine, Christ and all his benefits are exhibited to us. The sacrament is abundantly fragrant, a repository and storehouse of celestial blessings. Behold here life, and peace, and salvation are set before us! All the sweet delicacies of heaven are served at this feast.

~Thomas Watson