I enjoy watching those surprise reunions between military personnel and their family members after they have been separated for a long time. A typical scheme is to have the returning enlisted person pretend to be the catcher at a baseball game where the unsuspecting spouse or child is asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. When the catcher takes his mask off and reveals his identity, the joyful surprise is always heart-warming.

As I watch the videos of these reunions, I know what is coming. Yet my reaction is always the same—I am elated that the loved ones have been reunited.

The Bible says that Jesus will return for his church. The One who loves us more than anyone else ever could is coming back for us someday. That truth is not hidden from us. But the fact that we know that it is coming will not lessen the joy that we will feel when our reunion with Jesus is ultimately realized!

Communion is a wonderful preview of the joy believers will experience when Jesus returns for us.

“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”—1 Corinthians 11:26.