Wine Anyone?

I’m the ultimate red wine lover, but recently, due to the old 500 calorie diet I’m on, have not been able to partake of my favorite gladness provider. Yeah, yeah, nothing tastes as good as fit feels! Haha. So, being all spiritual and what not, I decided to write a little blog about wine. But, it may not be what you think (mysterious music playing in the background…).

Jesus Christ did a multitude of miracles in his short time of service on earth, but do you know what his first one was? Imagine God’s only begotten, filled with the power of God to heal people and set them free, doing his first remarkable act. What did he do, you ask? He turned water into wine! And don’t you go telling me that it was grape juice because when was the last time you were bummed out that they ran out of grape juice at a party? More Welch’s please…

So here’s the story. Jesus and his Mom were invited to a big wedding, when suddenly the head guy announced they were out of wine. Mary, who must have already realized that Jesus was pretty special, tells Jesus to do something about it. After giving her a little correction for ordering him to do a miracle, he does something spectacular. He tells the servants to go and grab 6 large stone jugs holding 20-30 gallons of water apiece. Then he says take one to the head dude. The servants obey dutifully and take one of the jugs over. The head of the ceremony then makes a startling statement. He said normally people give out the good wine at first, but when the guests are sufficiently plied, they break out the cheaper stuff because, well you know, the guests are already toasty. But he exclaimed, you saved the best stuff for last!

What just happened, you enquire? Jesus just turned six 20-30 gallons each jugs into fine wine. So by my conservative estimate, he just made 120-180 gallons of water into fine wine. Cabernet I’m guessing; expensive Cabernet! I’ll bet the wedding guests were stoked! 150 gallons of expensive Cabernet on the spot, free of charge. Let’s assume the liquor store was closed. But, not when Jesus shows up. Haha.

So, why share this little diddy with you? Because this was Jesus’ first miraculous act! Of all of the things God could do to announce the entrance of His wonderful son, He chose something with no other purpose than to make people happy. Would the guests have suffered without the fine wine? Probably not (unless they were on “the diet.”) Did anyone have to have the wine to live? Of course not! Was it for their healing? I doubt it, though red wine has been proven to have some healthy effect if drunk in moderation (pun intended). The only reasonable purpose one could assign to the miracle was to keep the party rolling!

Naturally, if you are of the religious ilk, you have a problem with this. How could our Holy God choose this for a first miracle? You see, it had to be grape juice or as one commentary dutifully noted, “Jesus knew how many guests were present and therefore only made enough for everyone to have just enough to not be drunken!” LOL How absurd? Religion ever seeks to legislate fun by deciding just how much fun one can have! It’s like corralling all the liquor into the liquor store in the hopes that maybe making it harder to get, will cut down on the drinking. Ha – all that really happens is that the drinkers have to plan ahead, unless Jesus is in town :-). Trying to legislate what people can and cannot have only makes people more likely to do the opposite.

Surprisingly perhaps, God is most interested in blessing people; all people regardless of their goodness or badness! Maybe read that again. The True God is always for you. He doesn’t seek to punish you or teach you a lesson. He’s better than that! He just loves you into loving and all by the freedom of your will! If you are being pressured or coerced, don’t think it’s coming from God. It’s just not His style. Will you still bump your head at times? Certainly! But God can not only heal your head, but would rather you never bumped it in the first place!

So you see, the first miracle ever performed by God’s son was on purpose for a purpose. He wanted you and me to know that He is a loving God and wants us to be sublimely happy! And, if it’s wine that does the trick, so be it. If you get drunk as a skunk, that’s on you. God doesn’t need to punish you, tomorrow will take care of that on its own! Haha

If everyone knew who God really is, everyone would love Him! How could they not? And, the good news is that He is right there with you as you read this and is maybe even having a chuckle or two! Get out of that fear based mindset that always has God chasing you around seeking to punish you. Someone may have taught you that, but I guarantee it wasn’t God! Instead seek after your One and only true source of goodness and see how much wine you get to enjoy.

Go ahead, go to the wedding and bring your mother.

Just some good thoughts…