"For skillful and godly Wisdom is better than rubies or pearls,
and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared with it." Proverbs 8:11 Amplified

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Part Three: More Lessons from the Wedding at Cana

Part three

6 Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held twenty to thirty gallons each. 7 Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled to the brim, 8 he said, “Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So they followed his instructions.
John 2:1-10 New Living Translation

Verses 6-8

What Scripture tells us:
The servants were given some strange instructions by Jesus but they followed them. They were told to take a dipper of the water to the Master of Ceremonies.

What we would do:
We would have grumbled about the hot, sweaty job of filling the waterpots. Who
is this Jesus guy who is giving us instructions. Weren’t we supposed to get
our instructions from the Master of Ceremonies. After finishing the long task of
filling all six of those pots we would have thought we were done and turned to
walk away, but before we could, this Jesus tells us to take a dipper of water to the
Master of Ceremonies. What? That is even dumber than filling the jars. The M of
C is going to look at us like we are crazy. He’ll be asking us why we are bringing
him a dipper of water? This Jesus person must be crazy, I’m not participating in
his antics.

What the servants did:
The servants did as they were instructed: “Do whatever he tells you,” Mary had
said. Jesus said: “Fill the jars with water,” “Dip some out and take it to the master
of ceremonies.” I don’t see them questioning, complaining or being fearful to
follow all of the directions given by Jesus.

What God wants us to learn from this:
Follow His instructions, even when they sound foolish. He knows what He is
doing.


How are you at following directions? God uses other people to bring the answers to our prayers, are we willing to listen to what they are telling us even if it doesn’t seem logical? Testing is hard on us. God is looking to see if we will trust Him even when we don’t understand the direction He is giving us. He sees the whole picture, we only see in part. It is not easy following Christ and at times it can seem to be painful.

Image: Morguefile

10 comments:

Roland D. Yeomans said...

You need more words. I need more time! But then The Father gives us all the same : 24 hours of promise and opportunity, right?

Come check my blog if you're of the mind and the inclination. As a courtesy only I provide a link to save you the trouble of going to my profile then my blog.
http://rolandyeomans.blogspot.com/

May Jesus become ever more real with each step you take with Him, Roland

Terri Tiffany said...

Diane, I really like how you are breaking this down into what we would do as opposed to what they did. You've got it so right. Right now, God is asking my husband and I to do some things we think are pretty dumb as well, go back to school at our age?? but we keep hoping he has the bigger picture too and we won't grumble. (but we do!!)

Toknowhim said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving an encouraging comment...I have found there is great freedom in confession of our sins....

Blessings to you...

Diane Marie Shaw said...

Roland,
Thanks for stopping by. I am checking out your blog. I would guess you have a lot of stories rolling around in you after having come through Katrina.
I hope you find that 24 hours is enough to accomplish all that is truely important.

Diane Marie Shaw said...

Terri, I have always loved the scripture "obedience is better than sacrifice." You are obeying, even though you don't see the end of the path, good for you and your husband.
He is making a beautiful tapestry of your lives. You are only seeing the backside of that tapestry and it may look like a mess but turn it around and you will see the beautiful picture emerging.
Jer. 29:11

smithsk said...

"Follow His instructions, even when they sound foolish. He knows what He is doing."

Good lesson. I have sermons on these passages before, and appreciate your fresh take on them.

Susan

DenaNetherton said...

Diane, such good thoughts. I love what Mary said, "Do what ever He tells you." Even though His public ministry hadn't begun, I'm sure Jesus' private ministry had been extraordinary.

Danica Favorite said...

Wow, this is really great Diane. Thanks for sharing.

Robbie Iobst said...

Diane,
I just caught up and read your last three blog posts. I love your approach. What Mary did, what we would do, what God wants us to do. Absolutely! I think it is a matter of trust and faith. I second guess God all the time. I love when you said (it might have been in one of the last two posts) that we finally go to God but when we do we have a list of suggestions for Him. :0) I so relate to this. Thank you for reminding me and encouraging me to go to the Father and obey. :0)

Diane Marie Shaw said...

Danica and Robbie, thanks for stopping by and commenting. Hope you enjoy the last post for this scripture.