revlanc@bellsouth.net
“Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Matt 9:17
When we embark upon a new year, many of us make resolutions. We resolve to make important changes in our lives that are long over due, or to perform tasks that we have been putting off. The first day of each year, we start fresh in a sense but often times the freshness wears off quickly as we fail to make good on our resolutions or continue to put off certain things.
Recently I have been wondering, what can we do to feel a sense of renewal or freshness when resolutions made at the start of a year will no longer do? There is only one thing that comes to mind, and that is “wineskins.”
Wineskins are not something I have personally seen but they are mentioned in the Bible. They were used to ferment new wine. Made of some kind of animal hide, they were tanned and placed over a fire so that they could be sealed and softened. Then they were sewn up so that the new wine could be poured into them. Afterwards they were sewn shut for a time, until the wine became good.
No one who knew anything about making good wine would consider placing it in an old wineskin. For one thing old wineskins became hard and unyielding. They cracked easily and could not expand during the fermenting process like a new wineskin. To put new wine in an old wineskin would essentially be the same as pouring it down the drain because it would burst and both it and the wine would be ruined.
In applying this to our lives, I consider an old wineskin to be likened to “an old bag.” If you have ever tried to put something of value in on old worn out bag you know that the bottom breaks out and both the bag and the valuables are broken in the process. Old bags are not useful for much of anything and are often thrown away. We would not consider using them to hold our precious commodities, as we know what condition they are in. Their only hope is to be recycled and made good as new again.
The same is true spiritually in our lives. We are either like an old wineskin that is hard and cracking, non-pliable and unable to hold anything of value, which basically likens us to being “an old bag.” Or we are like a new wineskin that has been tanned over the fire and made soft and pliable. New wineskins are made especially for new wine and can expand to hold whatever is poured into them.
Sometimes we pray that God will do a new thing in our lives. Our motives are sincere, and we know that we are in need of something fresh and life changing. Yet, it seems as though things stay the same and we become almost feeble in our spiritual lives.
We are often the reason that we end up in this state, because instead of allowing ourselves to be tanned over the fire and reconditioned to remain soft and pliable we have been unyielding and have become “old bags.” God is not a wasteful God and while He wants us to receive fresh and valuable spiritual commodities, He is not about to pour it into something that will burst causing it to leak out.
In our longing for something fresh from God, it would do us well to look over our lives and our attitudes. When was the last time that we just sat before Him and simply let Him be our God? Have we allowed His Word to tan us and the afflictions of life to be a purifying fire? Are we soft and pliable even to the most challenging commandments and thirsty for a new infilling from God? Only then are we new wineskins rather than “old bags.” Only then can God truly pour something of value in to us…something that will grow sweeter with time, and something that will expand and increase in value in our lives.
The moral of the story is that we can choose to either allow God to make us a vessel of honor fit for Him to pour something new into, or we can continue to live life as “an old bag.” To be an old bag requires nothing on our part and makes us useless for almost anything. Allowing Him to make us into a useful vessel requires a little bit more, but is well worth it.
Don’t be an old bag. Allow Him to fashion you into something new. You will then receive a fresh infilling like nothing you have experienced before. In time, as it works itself out in your mind and heart, it will be even more valuable then it was at the start!
Copyright 2004 by Melinda Lancaster
