Explosive
Opening Prayer
Precious Savior, as I come before You, help me to still my heart and mind and hear You.
Read LUKE 5:33-39
[33] They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.” [34] Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? [35] But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.” [36] He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. [38] No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.'” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What is the lesson of the wineskins?When the grapes are harvested and pressed here in Romania, some of the grape juice is made into “new wine” which contains no alcohol (but plenty of sugar). Once I was given some of this “new wine” in an old fizzy-drink bottle, and I made the mistake of leaving it on my kitchen table. I came home to find sticky red juice all over the kitchen. The reason new wine can’t be put into old wineskins is that it explodes!This is a very good image of what happens when you try to fit Jesus into old rules and traditions. They just can’t contain him! As we have read through these chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we have seen the religious people constantly stretched and pressurized by Jesus’ radical actions and teaching. Being around Jesus was uncomfortable. Their choice was either to remain with the “old wine” they were familiar with, or to allow the “new wine” to explode their mindset. While many traditions are good and help us to connect with God, we should be careful not to allow our traditions to restrict new things Jesus might want to do in our lives. However uncomfortable change and growth might be, stagnation is far more to be feared.
Apply
Pray that the Lord would fill his church with the energy and life of his new wine.
Closing prayer
Living God, I do not want to be stuck in ways that cannot contain the fullness of Your life.
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