"And Let There Be Life!" -2

"And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it." (John 2:6-8 KJV) 

  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV)

  As I was trying to ask the Lord for this portion of Scripture to help amplify the message I was feeling, it was incredibly hard for me to understand the simplicity of the message that God was putting upon my heart. Which, believe it or not, is really not all that uncommon, as we are so easily taken to the place where we want to complicate the message; whether to make it more detailed, or to make it more about trying harder; as if it is through something we do, that we are made new. 

  How many times must I walk down this same road, as if  there is some sort of sign I might have overlooked or failed to pay attention to? We get up, carrying this bed, and then find another place to put it down, making it become another resting place. It might seem a little confusing, but it is really not that at all; it is just a simple matter of the heart! 

  First of all, the picture presented here, is that the servants filled the water pots to the brim! It was not until the water pots were filled to the brim, that Jesus said, "Draw out now." In other words, the pots became full, and then the water became wine! There was no more room for anything else but what was going to be made new! 

  Obviously, this is something that can be made complicated; the more you think about it, the more you think about it! But for this wine to be really really good, it needs to be free from the stuff that is not very good; there can not be room left over for anything else but new...

"Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God be being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." (Galatians 5:2-4 NLT)