Archive for January 8th, 2008
Why So Hard?
Jesus words from today’s Bible reading, Luke 5, are very convicting to me. I’m sure part of this has to do with turning 53 recently. While I don’t consider this old, I’m now older than my dad was when he died. My biggest fear is that as I grow older, I’ll become stuck in my ways and resist change, even when the change actually extends the trajectory of my own dreams as a young man. I don’t want to lose my idealism and passion for growing in the Lord. I’ve been blessed with several friends and mentors who have never quit growing in the Lord and toward the Lord.
So while Luke 5 is filled with all sorts of passages that grab my attention, Jesus words about how easily we become satisfied with what we know and resist what is “new”:
//Inspiration: Luke 5:39
“And none of you, after drinking old wine, wants the new, for you say, ‘The old is better.’”
//Incarnation: What this verse means to my life today
I have to admit, and I hate to admit, that there are a number of routines that I like and I resent when those routines are interrupted. There are places and habits that have become set in my daily life — OK, I admit that I can fall in ruts and be a little stuck in my ways. Sometimes I do find myself saying, “The old way is better.” Yet deep inside I know this is not true; I just don’t want to have to change. Yet in my spirit, the place where God’s Holy Spirit is working on my heart to make me more like Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 3:18), I don’t want to resist Jesus and His new wine. I don’t want a mind, heart, or spirit that refuses to be stretched by God’s work in my life. I want to passionately pursue a taste of new wine.
//Invitation: My prayer for today
O God who makes all things new, please keep my heart fresh and passionate and idealistic and changing toward Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Click the comments link below and share your input on today’s readings!
Here a couple of questions to get you started, but feel free to add whatever you like to the discussion.
What is the verse that speaks most powerfully to you and why?
What makes it hard for you to live out God’s will for you in this passage?
What did you think about Phil’s take on this passage?
(The daily Bible reading schedule can be found online with Heartlight or hard copy out in pdf.)