A NEW WINE
Wine has been all around me this week, and I don’t even like wine. My niece and her husband just spent a year in New Zealand working, traveling, and learning about wine. In New Zealand, they have vineyards and wineries. Many of our wines come from there.
Wine comes from grapes that have been crushed to release the juice called “must” that is then placed in the fermentation container. The wine yeast meets the grape juice, and the natural process takes action.
I laugh to myself as I think of “I Love Lucy”and the grape stomping episode.
Let me say that God didn’t intend for us to abuse wine he planned for us to use wine for many different reasons. Wine is a significant symbol throughout scripture. Jesus’s first miracle was the transformation of water into wine at the marriage at Cana. (John 2: 1-11)
This week I have had several of my friends who are going through crushing and pressing. They have been heavy on my heart, but yet when I dove into the wine I realized what awesome results will come from the transformation.
Metaphorically let us look at ourselves as the transformation of the grapes turned into wine. In the song “New Wine,” Hillsong writes these words:
Hillsong NEW WINE Lyrics
In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making
New wine
In the soil, I
Now surrender
You are breaking
New ground
So I yield to You and to Your careful hand
When I trust You I don’t need to understand
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making
New wine
In the soil, I
Now surrender
You are breaking
New ground (hey)
You are breaking
New ground
So make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today (oh today)
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
So make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
God, I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Sing that again, make me
Make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
God, I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Oh, Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me (oh, Jesus)
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
It means we’re getting back on the altar
Let’s sing this to render everything, Lord
New wine out of me
Jesus, Jesus, bring new wine out of me (keep going)
Jesus, Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Oh, Jesus, bring new wine out of me
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
Where there is new wine
‘Cause where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
And the kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today
So make me Your vessel
Make me an offering
Make me whatever You want me to be
I came here with nothing
But all You have given me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me, Jesus
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
Jesus, bring new wine out of me
It is easy for us to lose our heart to the world instead of to Jesus, so it is time for us to go through the transformation of the crushing and the pressing. It may be difficult, and we probably won’t have the answers or understand what the result will be, however getting rid of the old flames and starting the new fire will give us power and freedom.
Matthew 9:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
In biblical times wine was poured into wineskins, unlike bottles we use today, when the new wine was placed in the wineskin it would expand as it fermented. New wine could not be added, or the bag would burst. New wine was always put into a new wineskin.
Jesus didn’t come to patch up old things; He came to make something new. He came to refine us in the fire (Isaiah 48:10) and put us in our new wineskin. New wine is a call back to the alter. It is a call for us to be transformed into new wine. It is the call for us to surrender to Christ. Pray that Jesus brings out the old wine and makes new wine in us. We are his vessels; we are meant to be his disciples. When we follow Him we must be prepared for new ways of living. A way of living being new wine.
THE OLD IS NO MORE HE IS CALLING US TO BECOME A NEW WINE!
CHALLENGES OF THE WEEK:
- Keep your daily appointment with Christ
- Dive deep into His word
- Let God make new wine out of you
- Fill your cup with Christ so you can fill other cups
EXTRA READS:
All scripture from https://www.biblegateway.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z-YIEvG2foA New Wine Hillsong New Song Café
https://www.intoxicatedonlife.com/10-biblical-reasons-we-should-appreciate-wine/10 Biblical Reasons We should appreciate wine
https://www.nzwine.comNew Zealand Wine
http://dish.allrecipes.com/how-to-make-wine-at-home/How to make wine at home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUxjOS3g6UcI love Lucy stomping grapes
http://www.doctrineanddevotion.com/blog/wineA Theology of Wine
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