Obedience: The Door to Miracles
Do whatever He tells you. (Mary, Jn. 2:5) Fill the jars with water. (Jesus, Jn. 2:7)
John 2:1-11; Deut: 5:29; Josh. 1:8; Mt. 9:17; Lk. 5:5; John 10:10, 14:21; Rev. 22:15
What Is God Saying?
In the time and place of our Lord's earthly life, a wedding was a big affair. Rapid transportation was unheard of and people who came to a wedding celebration had to stay awhile. A large supply of food and wine was needed. If the supply was exhausted, the bridegroom was embarrassed. When the wine failed, Jesus performed His first miracle. It was common to find large stone jars in a Jewish home. The type used for purification held about 20 gallons of water. They were used for washing the feet of guests who walked long distances on dusty roads. They were also used for washing hands between courses of their meals.
At the command of Jesus, the water jars were all filled with wine The wine was abundant in quantity and far better in quality than the wine that failed. What a picture of the new wine of the Gospel! It is abundant and far superior. ‘I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). Jesus came to bring something new, incomparably better, and inexhaustibly abundant. It is not strange that His first miracle should underscore this fact. Those who taste this new wine of life discover the truth in that old Gospel hymn, ‘Anywhere He leads me is better than where I've been.’
How Does This Apply To Us?
These words leap out of the text. They ought to be often on our lips. They ought to rise and give strength to our wills at every crossroad where destiny hangs on a decision, where the heart trembles with a choice, and where the mind searches for the right answer. One is found in Mary's words, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ The other is contained in the words of Jesus when He tells the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ Do whatever Jesus commands. It may be as common and ordinary as water. Do what He says. Give Him what you have. His touch will make the difference. Let Him turn embarrassing lack into a satisfying abundance, a drab existence into a thrilling adventure, and a heavy spirit into a living hope.
Pray With Me
Lord Jesus, there would have been no surprising abundance, no miracle, if the servants had disregarded Your mother's instruction. Give me a deeper understanding of this simple command. Give me a heart that is willing to listen, a heart that is quiet enough to hear, a heart that is quick to obey.
Do, don't debate. Don't doubt. Don't delay. Do not necessarily what pleases me, not necessarily the things that are easy or convenient or popular, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ As obedience to this command opened the door for Your first miracle, so let my obedience open the door for Your continuing miracles. The miracles are Yours to perform. The only thing I have to do with the miracle is to bring the water. You can take the simple gift of water, so ordinary, so universal and by Your wonderful touch, change it into wine. So I would bring the most ordinary things of my life—time, talents, voice, strength, and the love of my heart. Then, I can wait with expectancy for Your miracle.
Your touch changes the ordinary into the wonderful, the common-place into the glorious, the defeated into the triumphant, the dull to the thrill of adventure. Help me do whatever You tell me to do, even if it is as simple as filling jars with water. Fill the vessel of my mind with glowing thoughts, the vessel of my hands with meaningful work, and the vessel of my heart with joy and hope.
In the name of Him whose miracles continue even now. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Coming to the place and time of prayer is like letting Jesus fill the empty and ordinary vessel of our hearts with the surprising joy of good wine. Prayer is changing water into wine. Prayer is being blessed in order to be a blessing.
