New Wineskins

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” 

— Mark 2:21-22

Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King,

In your day, pouring new wine into old wineskins was commonly understood to be a big mistake. Liquids were stored in vessels from sewn together animal skins. When wine was poured in, the fermentation process would release gasses and cause the wineskin to expand. A new wineskin was pliable and able to expand with the wine. But as wineskins aged over time, often left out in the hot desert sun, they would become dry and brittle. Now, no longer able to contain new wine, they would burst under the pressure of new wine expanding within them.

Leather tanners had a process of restoring old wineskins to make them new again. First, they were plunged  in water and allowed to soak for an extended time. Then they were massaged with oil, returning pliability back into the skin. I have heard that at times the wineskin was turned inside out and beaten against a rock to aid in making the old and brittle soft and tender again. This whole process was done to prepare a wineskin so that it could contain something new and expanding within it—new wine.

Gracious Lord, to prepare me for the new wine You want to pour into me, I need You to make me new again. Plunge me into Your living water where I can soak in Your presence. Let Your living water refresh the dry, cracked places of my soul. Massage into me the oil of Your Holy Spirit. Make me soft and pliable, able to bend and expand with the direction of Your Spirit. And, if necessary, turn me inside out and let me be beaten against You, my Rock. Let hard things in me become soft again. Let what is brittle and broken become pliable and able to stretch again. Let me become a new wineskin able to carry Your new wine of the Holy Spirit bubbling and expanding within me.

— In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Retaliation

 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." — 1 Peter 2:21-23 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Thank you for leaving me an example of how to respond when I am verbally chastised, insulted, and torn down. You did not retaliate. No deceit was found in Your mouth. When You suffered, You made no threats. Instead You entrusted Yourself to the Father who judges Your accusers justly. Yesterday, a respected young man named Charlie Kirk, 31, who stood for righteousness and civil discourse was assassinated while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Charlie Kirk has consistently been one of the calmest and most polite among us. He listened to questions from his o...
Read more

Suffering

 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. — Romans 5:3-4 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, We glory in our sufferings. The word Paul uses here means to "glory in a thing", "to boast", "to rejoice." He's contrasting his previous thought that we boast or rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice in our hope of God and  we rejoice in our sufferings. The picture forming in my mind is lifting hands, shouting with joy, as I rejoice in God and then doing the same thing in the midst of my suffering. Yeah. I don't do that. I don't rejoice when suffering comes. I do the opposite. I complain. I sulk. I moan. I am irritated. I am angry. I am resentful. But do I rejoice? No. Yet this is the very thing Paul says we are to do. And it's because of the incredible fruitfulness our suffering brings. Suffering produces perseverance....
Read more

Faithful Stewards

 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." — 1 Peter 4:8-11 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, This is the second time Peter instructs believers to love one another deeply, fervently. Our love for one another overlooks small offenses. Without our deep and fervent love, every little irritation becomes a grievance. It should not be that way in the body of Christ. Because this early church met in homes, hospitality was necessary. To be hospitable means welcoming people into your home, but ...
Read more