Day 6: New wine
“Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17).
Our Father, All Sufficient One, You are a God of intimacy, a God of closeness, of presence, of relationship. Over and again in Your word, we are urged to draw near to You (James 4:8, Hebrews 7:19; 10:1; 10:22).
The Lord Jesus used several opportunities to emphasize relationship over "doing." To the busy Martha who complained that her sister sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He was saying instead of helping her with hostess duties, Jesus replied: "Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10: 39, 41).
And to the disciples of John the Baptist who asked Him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?" (Matthew 9:14-15).
The Savior goes on to give two lessons on not mixing the old with the new: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse...; people do not pour new wine into old wineskins... (Matthew 9:16-17).
Father, help us to apply the multiple lessons here. Like the Pharisees, like Martha, we can so focus on process that we miss relationship. We can become so consumed by tasks, by boxes to check off, by things to put in order, by practices to follow, by projects to complete—that we shut out Your presence and Your person.
Your invitation to draw near to You is an invitation into a newness of life (Romans 6:4 -NKJV)—a radical newness that cannot be attached to anything we have ever known or experienced. We cannot drag all we once held dear into our relationship with You—You alone are God.
The words You spoke to Your people through the prophet Isaiah, though given in a specific context, are applicable in principle to us: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it" (Isaiah 43:18-19)?
The apostle Paul spoke similar words in a letter to the Philippian church, Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal... for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).
Father, Your grace is enough. We have nothing to add. Help us to leave the old wine and the old wineskins behind. Ready us for Your unequaled newness—Your overflowing new wine of grace and gladness into our lives.
Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
~ Augustus Toplady ~ 1776
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