Water or Wine?

              In John Chapter Two, there is the account of Jesus attending a wedding feast with His disciples when His mother comes to Him with a problem. The wine had run out. You know the story. Jesus told the servants to fill six hefty water jars with water. And then He turned the water into wine. Not just ordinary wine – good wine. In verse ten (NIV) the host said to the bridegroom, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best until now.”
           
           If the wine hadn’t run out, if they hadn’t come to the end of their own provision, they would not have received the best wine. Sometimes we have to come to the end of our own efforts before we see God step in. And when He steps in, He gives us His best.
           
           Interestingly, Jesus told the servants to fill the large pots with water. I’m sure the servants had some questions about that. They needed wine, not water. At times, God will ask us to do things we don’t understand. This is when we need to remember to stay in faith and obey. He has our future in His hands and He knows the end from the beginning.
              
               Noah is a good example of someone who did what God told him to do, even when it didn’t make sense. It had never rained. Why would he need a boat? And to load the vessel with animals? Yet Genesis 6:22, says “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” His obedience brought deliverance.
              
               If the servants hadn’t been obedient to the command of Jesus and taken the water to the wedding host, I believe those pots would have remained full of water. In obeying the command of Jesus, a miracle occurred.
              
                Dear Lord Jesus, at the start of a new year, today and always, help me to obey Your commands, even if they don’t make sense to me. Help me not to forget that You are the God of miracles.