Life in the Fast Lane :: Deeper Devotion

by Jeff Fields

Luke 5:36-39
And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. “But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

I had the opportunity to attend a conference a couple of weeks ago. Third year in a row. With out fail, each time I returned home with new wine. Sweeter to the taste, more fragrant, more desirous and full of satisfaction. The problem with having God touch you deep in your soul is that you can’t bear the taste of old wine any longer. It offers no fulfillment and the aroma has grown stale. It’s kinda like the glory days of youth gone by. You can never go back. And even if you could, why would you?

Sheri and I spent the weekend with TJ and Tara over Easter and celebrated his birthday at Outback Steak House. TJ gets the same thing every time he goes there. I gave him a hard time about trying something new, but as the person took our orders, he chickened out and got the Alice Springs Chicken…again. His thinking is…he likes the taste, he knows what he is gonna get. Nothing wrong with that. Most of us are like that. We are comfortable with what we know.

Religion is comfortable. Heavy, but comfortable. Demanding, in a legalistic sort of way, but at least you know what to expect. No taste, but you’re not looking for taste, only to feel full. The stench of old wine can be covered up with busyness and self-serving ideas. The skins may leak but there is a line in the budget to cover maintenance. After a while, the old wine becomes as Jesus said “good enough.” Good enough to get by, good enough to yield a good day, good enough to yield a good job, nice house, good enough to build the ivory tower we look at the rest of the world from, good enough to put a time table on the God who lives outside of time.

The wonder of God is missing from our lives. We have taken a “full life” (John 10:10), life in the fast lane, full of wonder and imagination and we have turned it into something we can explain and structure.

Try something different. Begin now to pray. Linger long with the Father in prayer and communion. Call your friends and ask them to pray. Pray with fervor for a move of God. Pray for the opportunity to make God famous. Pray that Sunday worship will be filled with the unexpected, that the Spirit of God would break the hearts of His people. Pray that the watches and clocks in our Churches will become secondary to what and how He wants us to respond. Pray for your Pastor. That God would bring Him to His holy mountain and give him a message for the Church. That the power of God would flow freely in you, unhindered and that revival would begin with…