Listen To What He Says

I was in a Bible study once where our assignment was to read a passage of scripture over and over again, refining it each time. Whittling it down to see if we could discern the basic message God wanted us to hear.

The text I chose was Jesus at the wedding in Cana. Let's read it together.

"On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him." - John 2:1-11

The things that popped out at me from this text are these:

"On the third day . . ." - Jesus in the New Testament and God in the Old Testament did many things on "the third day," most notably of which was when Jesus was raised from the dead. And speaking or miracles . . .

"My hour has not yet come." - Jesus was speaking of His crucifixion and overcoming death - the REAL miracle! Not this silly water-into-wine stuff.

The part of this text that really spoke to me though was not actually spoken by Jesus. It was said by his mother, Mary.

“Do whatever he tells you.”

Yes, Jesus performed a miracle that day. Yes, it was a foreshadowing of when Jesus' blood would be poured out for the master of the feast. But what really caught my att3ention that particular day was "Do whatever He says."

If you follow the commands of Jesus we will demonstrate our love for Him. We might have particular ideas and thoughts of our own, but if they do not match those of our Savior, they are simply not worth our time. If we follow the commands of Jesus He will work yet another miracle . . in us! Jesus can take a lowly sin-filled human being and turn that person into a holy and righteous individual. We become sinless in the eyes of God simply by our faith in His Son. Have YOU been turned into wine yet?

To close, I found this piece of Old Testament scripture in my reading the other day. Interesting foretaste of things to come.

"20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries." - Exodus 23:20-22
Our God - Chris Tomlin

Food

My wife and I love our furry and feathery backyard buddies. We have lots of birds that visit our feeder. We also have lots of deer that feed on my wife's plants. She hates the deer eating her plants but she loves the deer in the backyard. Ironic.

We use black sunflower seeds in our bird feeder. That brings in chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, blue-jays. Even and occasional deer! We also have a block of suit for for our long-billed buddies - woodpeckers and flickers. The nuthatches like suit too. They're not very picky eaters.

We've been on the lookout for a new backyard visitor lately. One we didn't even know we had in our area - a black bear. My wife came home one night last week and said the sheriff's department (my wife works at the county courthouse) had reported a bear had been hit on Highway 54 just west of the county line. Gee. That's where WE live. The DNR was called and it was discovered that the bear that had been hit and killed was a mama bear, and she had been nursing. So, they searched the area and found a den with two cubs and a papa bear inside. The DNR took the cubs so they could be nursed (and survive) and left daddy bear by his lonesome in the den. Oh, and that den just so happens to be at the bottom of the hill leading into our subdivision. Comforting.

The woods can be a beautiful place to spend time with God. I did that a lot last year. But it is a very good idea to know what you might run into. What we know or what we do not know could save your life.

When Paul visited the church in Corinth he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His brothers and sisters in the faith, who he had been instructed in the ways of the Lord, had fallen away from their faith all together. They had been overrun by the sin and corruption that plagued the city, when they should have grown in their faith and been an example to their community. Paul had given them the basics of the faith (milk he calls it) and not the weightier details of what it means to be a Christian.

"Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?" - 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Though you and I might profess to be Christians, do we act like we are? If we were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us? Are we living a life worthy of our calling? Or have we backslidden to where we resemble the unsaved?

When I was walking past the big blackberry bush at the bottom of the hill last summer I never gave much thought to the fact that bears LOVE blackberries or that a bear family might have a den in the area. But now I AM aware and I can take guard against any possible physical encounters with a hungry papa bear (who just recently lost his entire family . . . at the hands of man). I can be prepared.

Here's a question. How do we know we are sinning if no one has ever told us? If "the whole world is doing it" how can it be wrong?

"11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." - Hebrews 5:11-14

First and foremost, people just simply need to know Jesus. No if's, and's or but's. They not only need to KNOW Him, they need to obey Him. People need to surrender their lives, the lives they are screwing up SO badly by themselves, to a God who can help them straighten their lives out by offering more than what this world has to offer. But to get that, people need to surrender. They need to recognize their fallen nature, they need to repent of that and change their ways. Then they need to start following Christ. Instead of living with just a knowledge of Him, they need to live FOR Him and for His kingdom. Only then can we eat of the "meat" in what we believe.

The Last Supper from Jesus of Nazareth