PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Mark 2:18-22
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“No one pours new wine into old wineskins.” (Mark 2:22)
The wine is the object of desire… not the wineskin, which is just a container.
Religious practices are containers that lead us to Jesus, our object of desire.
God gave the Law of Moses as a container to one day deliver the wine – Jesus.
Jesus represents LIFE with God, in fellowship with Him (like marriage).
The symbols and traditions around a wedding are not the point, they are pointers.
We are not accepted by God by our obedience to rules, or our practice of rituals.
Knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, He is our Saviour, He is the object of our desire.
Everything we do is a love response to Jesus, an act of gratitude.
Our obedience and spiritual practices are expressions of our love.
The bible is clear, our religious practices are not the point – knowing Jesus is!
“Do not let anyone judge you by (religious rituals). These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17)
Is there wine in my wineskin, am I experiencing the reality of Jesus in my religious life?
Am I clinging to the wineskin, or am I tasting and enjoying the wine?
PRAYER
Lord, I want the wine, not just the wineskin… You are the wine! Forgive me when I make the container more important than You.
The old cloth is the old testament way of obedience by adhering to the details of the law – Jesus way is by being driven by a heart passion to follow His way, his teachings – no longer bound by the old restrictive thinking of conformity to the ‘policy rules’ etc. The old will tear as Jesus way stretches us to not be confined by it anymore! Help me Lord Jesus to stretch with you – to follow your leading!
There is a time for everything under the sun. There is the old and the new. There is a time for feasting and a time for fasting. We can not be stuck in the past and be resistant to the new. We need to be open to the work of His Spirit within us and continue to grow in His Word and in our living for Him, serving Him for the joy of the Lord is our strength. Loving – Knowing – Doing/Serving.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me;
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me;
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, move among us all;
Make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love.
Humble, caring, selfless, sharing –
Spirit of the living God, move among us all.