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| Just Do It ... Whatever Jesus Says |
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Greetings!
I love the stories that God weaves through our lives. We never know where things are headed but it is great to know that God is in control. Seeing that my oldest son turned twenty yesterday, I enjoy the "God is in control" part of the bigger story board used in heaven.
I really never imagined life as it is today. When I was younger, and without Jesus, I never thought about following God and learning to "trust in Him with all my heart". I never dreamed of preaching, teaching, or serving for my King and His Kingdom. Yet, God is in control and the stories He creates are masterpieces. (Happy Birthday Zach! May the masterpiece of your life bring glory to God and much joy to your heart!)
The story of the first miracle of Jesus is one of my favorite Bible stories. It is so simple. So down to earth. So ... Jesus! The scene is set. Jesus, His mom and friends are invited to a wedding. At the wedding feast, the place runs out of wine. Mary finds out and requests Jesus to do something about it. Jesus doesn't want to get involved but eventually does and turns water into wine for the feast. A simple plot, simple characters, and an ingenious fix to a tense situation. The question I ask is why? Why this story and so what?
It is the small moments in the story that are the real story. The miracle is one of many to come so we need to look at the setting and the characters for clues to the greater meaning. The setting tells us that Jesus is real life. He is all about the day to day lives of His people and He is interested in the details of our moments and matters. Also, He comes where He is invited and welcomed. He operates where He is trusted and the miraculous is activated when Jesus is obeyed. Let's go into the story to look into the characters and their parts ...
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A Wedding Story
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." 4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." 6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
~ John 2:1-11 ~ |
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The New Wine of Jesus
One of the incredible hidden gems in the wedding story is the compassion and concern of Mary. She finds out there is a problem with the party and immediately makes it her concern. She is so distressed that she calls upon her son - the Son of God - to handle the dilemma. Jesus read her compassion and said, "so what ...what do you want me to do?", all the while knowing she wanted Him to fix the situation. His response is passive while Mary's is aggressive. She call sto the servants, "Whatever He says to you, Do it!"
The trust of Mary is something we can take from this story and replicate in our lives. Note that Mary didn't know what Jesus would do but she trusted Him to do something. She said, "Whatever he says, do it!" She didn't know if he would act but she knew that whatever He did do that it would be the right thing. This is total trust.
The next scene in the story involves the servants Mary commanded. Mary told them to follow the instructions of Jesus and they did implicitly. In fact, when Jesus told them to fill the waterpots with water the Bible tells us that they filled "them up to the brim". The servants didn't just carelessly obey but did so with excellent execution. The same must be true for our stories. We must obey the Master's commands and recognize that obedience is the breeding ground for miracles.
In the final scene, the servants make bold moves in the story line that could have proved fatal or fantastic. When Jesus told the servants to take the "water" to the Master of the Feast they had no idea what they were transporting. Was it rancid water, miraculous wine, or the result of witchcraft? Their jobs, maybe their lives, were on the line. Still, they listened to Mary and did "whatever" Jesus told them. As a result, the Master of the Feast tasted the "new wine" of heaven and enjoyed something that was out of this world! The obedience of the servants was the true container of the miraculous provision of Jesus. Without their part there is no story.
The trust of Mary, the obedience of the servants and the "real life" intrusion of Jesus into daily affairs create the backbone of this story. As such, the wedding story provides insight into our relationship with Christ and also on our thought and behavior processes that both bring God glory and create an environment for the miraculous. The simple lesson is that we need to learn to trust like Mary. We need to learn to obey like the servants and we need to learn to enjoy God's provision like the Master of the Feast! He is creating an amazing story through your life ... Trust, Obey and Enjoy!
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For King and Kingdom,
Randy Martin |
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