When most people complete a project they stand back and look at it observing and judging their success. When the finished product is beautiful, complete or functional there is a great sense of well-deserved pride and satisfaction. The problem comes when our art is defaced, our cake is toppled, our CD is tossed in the trash, the mechanism gets bent, etc. Our pride and satisfaction turn to sorrow. The disappointment sets in, we realize that there were people who did not value our creation.

Genesis 1: ³¹  God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

Do you value creation? Do you see the beauty in all creation? We have the God-given position to manage the earth and all that is within it; are we doing a good, great, or poor job? How am I maintaining my body, what am I feeding it? Some good, some bad. How am I raising my children? With a lot of thought and prayer. How am I stewarding my property? Oooh, not too good. How am I treating other people? Good, sometimes, when I feel like it Am I recycling? Not enough. Am I picking up trash from time to time when I’m out and about? I could do better. Have I trained my children to take care of their toys? Not really. Do I read and value the Bible? Yes. Have I trained my children to value the bible? Yes, but I could do a much better job. Am I active in environmental issues? Not nearly enough. Am I being intentional with my money? Now I am after being unintentional for a season. I could go on and on; we are supposed to be salt and light.

Matt 5^{: 13} “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Am I adding good flavor to the world? What am I doing in my community that makes God look good and desirable? I have plenty of room for improvement but I will start with more recycling and cutting weeds on my property.

“You can’t steer a ship if it has not set sail”

“Tension builds strength”                               

As of late, both of these statements have been on my mind often coming in the form of “Do I pursue this new venture or do I continue with what is working now?”  Given there can be a combination of both, continuing with what works and pursuing a new venture. The question remains, are you invested deeply enough in your new venture to set sail with it? This is the tension that builds mental and spiritual strength. Are you setting sail in what you know is your calling or sitting happily in your comfortable current condition?

Some of Jesus’ disciples were good fishermen which meant they understood the ways of the sea, boat handling, and weather forecasting. They were not mumbling, bumbling idiots. These facts interest me since it is noted in scripture that they set sail and their boats and twice were nearly scuttled by the weather and waves. (Matt 14:22-33, Mark 4:45-41) In both instances they were sailing to their next calling, their next ministry destination, the next group of people they were assigned. They were going, setting sail, not sitting tied up at the docks. There was also work involved as well as fear that arose when the storms came and they were not near shore. Think about it, in those days there was no coast guard, no radios, probably no great flotation devices aboard. They were risking everything for the advancement of their calling, putting their money where their mouth was.

It was during these times they experienced the power of the miraculous with Jesus. Would they have seen Jesus walk on water had they not set sail and encountered a life threatening storm? (Matt 14) Would Peter have walked to Jesus on the water? Note that he did walk on water IN the storm when he kept his eyes on Jesus but when he looked at the surrounding circumstances he began to sink. Or what happened when Jesus was sleeping through the storm in Mark 4? Had they not set sail they would have never observed Jesus’ calm in the storm, his lack of worry to the point of sleeping and His rebuking of the storm when they woke Him up which brought calm waters.

In both scenarios the disciples set sail to their new callings. Both times they encountered trials, storms at sea far from rescue. And each time they encountered the storms they encountered the miraculous power of the Father through Jesus. Had they not pursued their calling and sailed away from comfort, they never would have seen the miraculous!

This begs the question, what have I avoided due to the cost and risk? What miraculous revelation have I missed not pursuing my next calling?

        A few weeks ago we were finishing dinner and as I poured the last drop of wine into my wife’s glass, our 5 year old son asked, “Why don’t you just turn our glasses of water into wine like Jesus did? You always say we want to do what Jesus did, so why don’t you turn water into wine?” Unfortunately I did not have a great answer; I explained how we continue to grow closer to God in order to know His ways and learn to hear his voice. The closer we get to God, the better we can hear Him, then we will do as He does.

      My son’s simple question caused me to dig into the Scriptures. It is interesting how John makes it clear that Jesus’ first miracle was changing water to good wine at the wedding in Cana. (John 2:1-11) What is even more interesting is that Jesus uses wine to signify his blood being shed for the new covenant. (Luke 22:20)  Jesus took spiritless water and made it spirit-filled wine at Cana. The wine first served at the wedding was made through the traditional manner and the physical work of men. The second wine was made through instant transformation, the water became spirit-filled and the wine was better than the first.

      In the Old Testament, animal sacrifice was the only way to remit sins. Priests had to be cleansed, blood had to be shed, sacrifice burnt, then there had to be a proper disposal of the remains. This was a necessary practice to forgive sins but it was temporary; the next sin meant another sacrifice must be made. Through all of this work, ONLY the priests who entered the Holy of Holies experienced the Spirit of God. All of the sacrifice was work through the hands of men.

So, when Jesus turned water into wine, he took what was used to cleanse the hands of priests in preparation for an offering and made it spirit-filled to be consumed, ingested. Jesus revealed a new covenant by taking the spiritless water and made spirit-filled wine. He ushered in the new covenant at the last supper when he took the spirit-filled wine and said “this is My blood.”  His Blood, the permanent forgiveness of sins, is the New Covenant which brings the Holy Spirit.

 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. –Matthew 26:27-28

Suddenly people had a chance to “walk with God” and to hear from God for themselves, just like Adam had in the garden. What was lost with the first sin in the Garden of Eden, the first sacrifice, the first blood shed, the first death that literally covered their naked sin, was regained upon the cross through God’s second sacrifice, His Son. First God sacrificed His beautiful creation to cover two people’s sin and last He sacrificed His Son to cover ALL sin.

The separation was over, the blood and water flowed from Jesus’ side and brought together the spiritless cleansing water, the spiritless blood, and God’s sacrifice to internalize the forgiveness of sins. No longer a covering or sprinkling, no longer a ritual, but now like Eden, an exchange and a relationship. In the same way Jesus internalized and personalized the 10 Commandments (Matt 5:21-23), God personalized the forgiveness of sin.The first covenant brought a covering of sin through animal sacrifice that was good but, the second covenant brought complete and permanent forgiveness that was better. In the wedding at Cana the first wine was processed by the hands of men and it was good but, the second wine at the wedding was better, it was miraculously and instantaneously transformed into spirit-filled water.

When Jesus instructed us to “do as I have done and expect to do more through the Holy Spirit,” (Jn 14:12-14) he was not teasing. Even though I may not turn water to wine, I expect Him to work through me in healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, casting out demons, bringing hope practically and prophetically (and I’ll change water to wine if God so desires :^). These gifts are just as miraculous and transformational as changing water to wine. God’s love operating through us is as miraculously transformational as Jesus’ first miracle changing water into wine.