This morning I was praying and the power of the Word of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit were in my thoughts I was thinking about how God fills us with His Spirit and Word and I thought of Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana turning water into wine, (John 2:1-11).  But what I focused on was the jars of clay and the process Jesus went through to make that wine.

He filled these clay jars that held 20-30 gallons each with water, all the way to the brim.  Then he asked one of the servants to take it to the master of the wedding who tasted it and took it to the bride groom.  The master of the wedding told the bride groom that most served the best wine first, but he had chosen to “save the best until now.”

I read this miracle and all I saw was the coming of the new covenant promised in Jeremiah.  Christ Jesus filling our jars of clay with the living water of this new covenant.

Turning from God – Jeremiah 2

I went to Jeremiah and read two passages.  First where God declared that Israel had turned from Him in Jeremiah 2

Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV) ¹³ for my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

They had turned from God and built these leaky cisterns to hold things of the world that could never be filled and turned from the fountains of living water that would never leave them thirsting for anything.

Trusting in the Flesh or the Living Water of God – Jeremiah 17

Then I went to Jeremiah 17 and Jeremiah contrasted the sin of Judah to the man who trusted in the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 (ESV) ⁵ Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

and makes flesh his strength,

whose heart turns away from the Lord.

⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert,

and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

⁸ He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

What a contrast there is when we cling to the life-giving water of God.  Then I went to Jeremiah 31 where I saw this miracle most clearly.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

I thought of the first thing Jesus said when His mother asked Him to solve the problem of the wine.  ” ⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” But he did as she asked. He honored her and he gave a foreshadowing of what was prophesied by through Jeremiah in chapter 31.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (ESV) The New Covenant

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³ For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴ And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

For me the water He filled these clay jars with was His living water; His law, written on my heart.  From it came the sweetest wine; the promise of eternal life.

Reflections

When I read this miracle in John 2, I see the great work that Jesus does with the water being turned to wine in these clay jars.  He fills us with this living water and changes us from the inside out.  In a moment, we are transformed from the people Jeremiah speaks of in Jeremiah 17:5-6   “⁵ Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. ⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.” To the people of the new covenant that he speaks of in Jeremiah 31:31-34 in the section above.

John 7:37-39

I cannot help but turn to John 7:37-39 and reread what Jesus said about living water and the Holy Spirit and think of the water to wine

John 7:37-39 (ESV) ³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

What a glorious gift we have if we believe in Jesus, the Son of God.  He will change us from the inside out and the Holy Spirit will dwell in our hearts.

Closing Thoughts

There are so many places in the Word where God speaks of the work being done in us.  I know when I was saved the change was instant.  The growth has been slow and steady but I see Jesus and the Holy Spirits work in God’s Word everywhere, and me, I am a simple jar of clay being molded into shape by the potter’s hands.

I think about Jesus changing that water to wine, and you know I had always passed over it and given it only passing weight.  But think about it. How many folks do you know that can do that?  And as quickly as He changed that water in that clay jar to wine he can change a heart of stone to one of flesh and make it a throne room for the Holy Spirit!  It takes only the faith of a child and a willing heart to believe in Jesus.  Repentance and Baptism come out of an overpowering desire to obey.  But that water to wine thing is something that I cannot grasp.  I simply trust in my God, the Creator of all things.

Prayer

Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word.  Thank you, the nourishment it brings to my spirit, like “fountains of living water.”  Lord, thank you for letting me see Your wonder on every page.  Thank You for letting me see Your love and Your glory.

Father, help me that I might not turn either to the left or right but keep my eyes firmly focused on you, in the name of your precious Son Jesus Christ I pray, Amen!