They have no wine (2)

Has your wine run out? Are you one of those people who is just expecting the wine to continue to flow, or are you one of the waiters thinking this is impossible, what is this woman saying "just do as he says?" Faith comes in many guises, on the one hand we have Mary who knew that Jesus was the answer, she had experienced it in her life and had clung onto the knowledge that all things were possible all she had to do was believe. On the other hand the waiters had no idea who Jesus was, they had not experienced his miracles. For all they knew he was just an ordinary guest at a wedding, why should they do as he said, he was not their boss. How many of us say "no I am not going to do as Jesus says I am going to continue on my own sweet way, after all it is not my concern that the wine has run out". If we heed the request “do as he says” I guarantee our lives will not be the same because we will have seen God step down into our space and provide us with an awareness of himself that will change our lives. These waiters had to be willing to listen to this guy Jesus in the first instance and they then had to be willing to do as he said. Jesus can only be experienced in our lives if we are willing to do as he says. God does not contravene free will. In some ways these waiters did not have much to lose as the fact that the wine had run out was not their responsibility, but on the other hand, as employees of the host they were expected to deliver. In the same way God expects us to deliver, it may not be our responsibility that someone has run out of wine but I might be the one to replenish their glass.
There are three things that Jesus asks the waiters to do:-

1. Fill the water pots with water 
2. Draw some out now 
3. Take it to the master of the feast

The first thing they are asked to do is fill the water pots. These water pots were intended for the tradition of purification (washing before eating). If we look a little deeper into the Greek wording used for the phrase ‘set there’ (NKJV) or ‘standing nearby’ (NLT) we find that the Greek word used is more akin to lying around, indicating that these pots were not being used for what they were intended, that of holding water. In the same way we need to make sure that we do not allow our lives to be left to ‘lie around’, unused and unfilled but are used and filled as God intended. We are the habitation of God here on earth by the Holy Spirit. I trust that we have not neglected our vessel so that it is not being used as God intended. To use our vessel for what God intended we need to hear the word of God, get soaked in His word and continually put ourselves in a position where our vessels can be filled with all that God has for us. We see that the servants filled the pots to the brim. We have a responsibility to fill the vessel that God has given us with what God intended it to be filled with. We will never be able to share what God has done for us if we have empty water pots. When required we need to be in a position that we can draw out. If we are just an empty water pot what can we draw out? We then have to have the courage of our convictions and take it to those in need of replenishing or refreshing. It is not us that turns the water into wine, Jesus does the miracle, we just draw on what has been placed within us and obediently take to those in need, not just those on the highways and byways but to those already invited to the wedding feast, those people expecting wine. If I am willing to do this one thing who knows what God will do with those that I have been instrumental in topping up their glass. .


Has your wine run out? Are you in need of fresh wine? Do you have water pots filled and ready? Are you able to draw and allow your water to be turned to wine? I am so glad that Mary did not sit on the sidelines and that she shared her concern with Jesus. Let us all draw from her experience and engage Jesus with our concerns so that He can intervene and enable us to either draw and take or receive and be refreshed.