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 loving fellowship with God (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.
Paul 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.
There is a time to mourn and there is a time for celebration. But even when I have times of ‘starvation’ or fasting – times of sadness and sorrow, maybe even depression – I need to be connected to Jesus – who helps me and then the fasting is over. Even in the challenges of life I can celebrate his love from me! Without his love I will fast and be hungry. I need him – my temple needs to be filled with his HS so that I may live! He is the ‘wine’ that gladdens my heart!
Fasting was important during biblical times. John’s disciples were probably fasting since John was in prison. The religious leaders had many days of fasting throughout the year, many of their man made rules. But why fast in the presence of the Lord. Walking with Jesus should give joy. There is a right time for feasting and fasting. He gives us the wisdom to make the best of the old and the new. We need both testaments. We can not hold rigidly to the past and stop the work of His Spirit working within us. I need to grow in Him and His plan for my life.
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.