Expect the unexpected

Scripture:  Luke 5:39  “But no-one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine.  ‘The old is just fine’, they say”

 

Observation:  Jesus says this as part of His response to the Pharisees’ accusation that His disciples didn’t fast & pray (I mean, even John the Baptist’s disciples did that!!). Truth be told, the Pharisees are simply looking for something to be “wrong” with Jesus & His followers, but Jesus, as usual, uses this  as an opportunity for a greater truth to be revealed....that He will remain unacceptable by the Pharisees because, even though He is their long-awaited Messiah, He wants to take them out of their “comfort zone”, out of the familiar, and do something completely new!!   And because they are waiting for God to do things the way they expect Him to, they stand every chance of missing Him completely!

 

Application:  I am a believer in Christ, and so a child of God.  I am a partaker of the New Covenant.  I have salvation by faith in Christ!  Yet I, too, can be comfortable with the “old wine”, and not want the new!!  I can become stuck in a rut – even in my walk with my Lord & my attitudes to Him & to others around me.  I can “do what I do” because it has become habit rather than conviction.  But He wants to constantly do something new in my life!!  He wants me to continually grow in Him, receiving fresh revelation from His Spirit, learning to apply even ‘old’ (familiar)truths in fresh ways.  Building on the familiar, the tried & true, but challenging me when, in my humanity, I start to place my Lord in a box to contain Him....because I think I know Him so well!  But as I get to know Him more & more, I must realise that there is more & more to know!!  He can’t be contained in a box!!  And with God, my Creator, Redeemer, and Lord, I must realise that I must be prepared to “expect the unexpected”!!  That can be a seemingly insecure place, but my security is in the truth that He loves me (He died for me), that He is always good, that He is for me, not against me, and that, in character & purpose, He is the same yesterday, today & tomorrow......and that’s actually a pretty secure place to be!!

 

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father, thankyou that You are too big to put in a box, but that also, in You, I have all the security I need.  Thankyou that life in You is not just more of the same, about being content with the “old wine”.  but is about being continually open to receiving Your newness & freshness.  Help me to “expect the unexpected” with You , being ready to receive the new wine You offer me, that I will not miss any opportunities You long to give me to become more like You & impact more people for You.   In Jesus’ name.  Amen

 

Sue Otto