A Formula for Regeneration

November 14, 2011

“This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11 NLT)

An allegory is a story in which people, places and things have a deeper meaning.  In addition to being the record of a supernatural miracle the story of Jesus turning water into wine is a beautiful allegory that shows us how to be born again.  Carefully and prayerfully read the story.

A first step is expressed in the words of Mary when she tells Jesus they have no wine.  Wine is a symbol of joy in the Bible.  This statement of Mary is like a confession.  Our first step in being born again is to confess that we have no wine (joy) and we need to be born again.

A second step in this formula is when Jesus tells the servants to fill the huge thirty gallon jars with water.  The Scripture is sometimes symbolized by water because of the way it cleanses.  A devotional application here could therefore be that our second step toward regeneration would be to fill our human vessel with the Word of God.

A third step is pictured when Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.  While we are filling our vessel with the Word we must do what it tells us to do.

The fourth step is when Jesus tells the servants to draw out what they had just poured into the huge jars and serve it as wine.  Precisely, when did the water become wine?  I’m convinced it was when the servants had the faith to serve the water as wine.  We are born again when we believe Jesus can turn our water into wine and show His glory through us.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

Who Are You?

October 19, 2011

“…  Who are you? What do you say about yourself?”  (John 1:22)

 John the Baptist was the greatest man and the greatest prophet ever born of woman according to Jesus, yet there’s very little space given to him in the Gospels.  His greatness as a man and as a prophet seems to be attributed to the way he answered this question a delegation from Jerusalem was commissioned to ask him.

At first he did not want to answer the question because he did not want to talk about himself.  He just wanted to talk about Jesus Christ.  But when they told him they had to take an answer back to Jerusalem, he finally gave the answer that he was a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.  That was who he was, that was what he was, and that was where he was.

We might summarize John’s answer by saying that he accepted the limits of his limitations and the responsibility for his ability.  We bear a lot of needless pain because we do not accept the limits of our limitations.  But at the judgment most of us are not going to come up short because we did not accept our limits.  We will fall short because we did not accept the responsibility for our ability.

Therefore, we should have a realistic, objective evaluation of who we are, what we are, and where we are to be as we live out our three score and ten, or four score years of life in this world.  Who are you?  What do you say about yourself?  When you meet the Lord, are you going to be able to say that you were who, what, and where He willed you to be?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

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