‘Cause I wasn’t made to be tending a grave, I was called by name
Born and raised back to life again, I was made for more
So why would I make a bed in my shame
When a fountain of grace is running my way?
I know I am Yours, and I was made for more”
Made for More, Josh Baldwin
Have you ever felt old? I recognize by many measures I’m still a young man, but I don’t always feel that way. When I bend over to pick things up, I’m reminded that I’m no longer 22 years old. When we had our “snow day” (I use that term loosely), my hip was sore for a couple of days from stopping myself with my feet, so me and my sled didn’t end up in our creek. Comedian Nate Bargatze says on his recent comedy special, “I pulled a muscle recently…and I guess it was in my soul. It was in the dead middle of my body.” (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GQc9sfd2sbA)
On Sunday, we read and talked about the parable of the new wineskins. The wine fermenting would stretch the skin to the point of it losing its elasticity. It had hit its limit and could only handle this process once. If you put new wine in an old skin, the expanding gases would burst the skin. Thankfully, when Jesus is talking about old wineskins, he’s not talking about our physical bodies. It would be a little deflating to think as our physical bodies age…well, no more growth for us…
Jesus was talking about our hearts and the spiritual side of our lives. Last week, it was a call to be good soil. This week, it is a call to be a new vessel; ready to receive the good news of the Gospel and allow it to grow in our lives. The Gospel, the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, is alive and is full of life and energy. It requires something brand new—ready to be shaped by it.
When Jesus truly gets in your life, He will begin to stretch you, mold you, and change you into something new. He wants to shape your views, ideals, morals, and ways of thinking. The good news of Jesus Christ is that we no longer have to check boxes. We don’t have to do more or believe harder. We accept, by faith, that God will give us a new heart, a new wineskin, to receive that new wine, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We may not like change but sometimes change is what we need the most. Our life needs to be new to match the newness that comes from a relationship with Jesus. When Jesus shows up, He comes to bring something new, something fresh, something that can redeem…in an entirely new way…
You were made for more. You were made to be new.
Prayer: Dear God, make us new through the Gospel of your Son Jesus. In His name we pray, Amen.
Grace and peace,
Aaron
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