I am always amazed at how Jesus ministered to everyone He met in a very meaningful way. No wasted time. No beating around the bush. Never holding back. But that’s who He was when He walked on this earth, even to the point of death. He not only gave what was needed, but abundantly gave more and more and more…… Of course, for those who know Christ, you know that is who He is and He is abundance! More than needed. More than hoped for. More than expected. More than our reasoning. He is God!!! A story that illustrates this point is found in John 2:1 -11 and it tells of a wedding in Cana that Jesus and His disciples were invited to. This wedding had all the necessary things they needed to complete the celebration, but they soon exhausted their resource of wine. Jesus mother brought this to His attention and He asked her what that had to do with Him because He was not manifesting Himself as the Messiah at that time. Mary told the servants to do what He said even though she didn’t apparently understand all this meant. Jesus proceeded to have them fill up six stone water pots with water and dip in there and take that liquid to the headwaiter. When the headwaiter tasted the liquid it had become wine…..all of it!! Water to wine. Not just some wine, but approximately enough wine to fill over 900 bottles of today’s size. Abundance personified!! The touch of Jesus took water that was tasteless and made wine, of the best caliber. Jesus took the bland and gave it taste. It says His disciples saw the Glory of God and became firm believers and followers of Jesus. They experienced the overflow and then lived their life out of that overflow. Later in Jesus’ journey he met a Samaritan Woman and gave her a chance to drink of water touched by Jesus. (John 4:13-15) He told her that if she drinks of this water that she will never thirst again. Once again, abundance!! Overflow. The definition of Abundance is plentiful. If we are to truly grow in Christ, then it will take more than temporal commitments of partial belief. We will need to totally immerse ourselves in the glory of God and really believe. In Acts 4:32 – 37, the early church experienced this kind of Overflow and it spread through their lives to others. They called this community or communion. The individual way that Christ was impacting each life was drawing them together into a community of believers and the source of their strength was the one who changes water into wine, Jesus. Their “testimony” to everyone they met was “His grace is plentiful.” Who wouldn’t want that. If we truly lived with that as our hearts cry, we would impact all we came in contact with in an extraordinary way.
Overflow!! What’s keeping you from experiencing it today? I would think a lack of faith and understanding. The very thing that is available is the very thing we miss. We have a weak perception about it so we ignore it. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that needed to experience this truth about the mercies that are available and how it is where we find true comfort. In 2 Corinthians 1:5 Paul wrote, “for just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. This water touched by the sacrifice of Jesus that satisfies our thirst is not only satisfying but ever growing in flavoring our lives to taste more like Him every moment of every day. And that is what it means to be Like Christ, or Christian.
Here is what I’m praying lately. Lord, be real to me and may your Holy Spirit show me your glory in my life and may I be a vessel that can be used by You. May my flavor be something others want because of who You are in my life. I promise you, instead of running out of wine when you need it the most, you will have an overflow of it that will be there every time.
Plenteous…..Abundance……….Overflow!!!
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren