Impact

Ecc. 3:¹ “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”

Please John 2:1-11 (NRSV] and as you read, you will be blessed because the Word of God is life.  We continue to journey with John and this time he is narrating what happened at the wedding in Cana of Galilee on the third day.

As is characteristic with John, we see precise timing and location details. John 1:^1-2 “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.” (NRSV). Jesus, his brothers [even though they were not mentioned here], and his disciples were invited to a wedding. The first thing that jumps out at us is, Jesus attended a wedding. Jesus, King, on an assignment to save humanity, was invited to a wedding party and He attended.

Sometimes, we want to be so spiritual and we are of no earthly significance. We are so holy; we do not attend weddings or parties. Jesus attended a party, not just any part but one where alcohol was being served. And when the alcohol finished, guess who produced more for them? I know; many people want to remove that part from the Bible, but it is there. Obviously, the way wines are dealt with in the Semitic region is not the way people drink beer today – it is totally different. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying this in a bid not to encourage people to drink or because I think people should be drinking. I do not drink and by God’s grace, I would never drink till I see Jesus. I would not taste alcohol or wine until the marriage supper.

Every Pastor and Minister serving in God’s Favourite House has committed to not take alcohol, that is the requirement. Drinking alcohol is not necessarily a sin; I do not think people that drink wine that contains alcohol are sinning because the Bible does not say they are sinning. But the Bible clearly says there is a greater way and there is a greater path. The Bible says drunkenness is sin; that is, if you get a drink and get drunk, it is a sin. The Bible says you should rather be filled with the Holy Spirit and not with wine [Read Luke 1:15, Eph.5:18]. Is social drinking a sin? I think not but it can easily lead to sin. Therefore, we do not touch it with a long pole. When people begin to lose their senses, anything can happen. I hope you understand this.

So, if you see someone taking wine, do not judge them, just leave them. The closer they get to Jesus, the more the distance between them and wine will increase. But there is a problem if you say you are close to the Holy Spirit and you are drunk every day. A friend was telling me that she cannot correlate someone that is rude to being supposedly close to the Holy Spirit because the lady was very rude. She said one minute the lady is in ‘the Spirit’ and the next minute she is abusing someone. There is a problem with that; it does not mix. The closer you get to God, the more you drop these things, the more they become nothing to you, and the less judgmental you become yourself and of the people that are still struggling with those things. John shows us that Jesus was not antisocial.

Prayer: Lord, I ask for the grace to be significant on earth and in heaven, in Jesus Name. Amen!