Originally posted on Facebook January 6, 2021
Theme Verse:
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.” Mark 8:35
“Lose” from the Greek word “Apollymi” means “to destroy fully.” It is translated “perish” in our verse for today.
“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:17
I’m not gonna lie, this verse was a difficult one for me. I am not sure I understand all that Christ was implying here. I looked several places for help including Matthew Henry’s commentary.
Some have said that Jesus was making a specific point to John the Baptist about why He had come. Christ’s work was the work of redemption. It was something completely new and could not be looked at through the lens of old, regulatory ways.
What I do notice is that both are either lost, the wine is spilled out and the old, dry, leather-skinned bottles burst, or both are preserved. The preference is that both the bottle and the wine be preserved.
The old dried out bottles could never handle the new wine. They had lost their elasticity and their ability to be flexible. The old man cannot receive the things of God. Being set in old ways just to be set in an old way is a catastrophe waiting to happen. The new is bound to come and “burst our bubble” world.
Ephesians 4:22-24 teaches we are to put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of our mind and put on the new man. Salvation always gives us a fresh start. In fact, God’s mercies are new every morning so the Christian gets a fresh start everyday!!
I do like a fresh start. It can be invigorating. I like new things, a new year and a fresh approach. I like starting a new book, eating at a new restaurant, wearing a new outfit, learning a new song and I could go on.
Ask God to give you a new heart. Ask Him to make your heart ready to receive the filling of His Holy Spirit.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26