John 2
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. John 2:1-12 NKJV
It is interesting to note that Jesus’ first miracle occurred at a wedding celebration. It shows that Jesus felt that it was important to take time to celebrate and have fun. However, we need to be careful in thinking that having a good time is THE most important thing in life. One of the devil’s schemes is to try to convince us that if we do what is pleasing to our flesh and satisfy all of our desires, then we will have a happy, fulfilled life. Satan leads people to look to money, materialism, sex, and the things of this world for excitement and meaning in life. People who follow the allure of the flesh then start to think that life with Christ is boring and dull in comparison. Nothing could be further from the truth! A genuine, meaningful, content life is found only through living out God’s commands. The alternative is a trap: “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). In this story that takes place in Cana, the wine that Jesus made was the absolute best. Similarly, life with Him is exceedingly better than life without Him! Those of us that have seen the immense blessings in our lives as a result of our faithful obedience know this already. So, how do we convince others? First, we need to commit our lives to faithfully following God’s ways. The blessings of peace, contentment, joy, and love that will flow from people living a Holy Spirit-led life will speak volumes to those around us. Let your life be the proof of God’s greatness!
But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. John 2:24-25 NKJV. Our Heavenly Father knows our thoughts and desires, and yet He loves us anyway! He is well aware of the truth of Jeremiah 17:9: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” No matter what we have done in the past, and no matter what we are currently doing that is against God’s commands, we can never sin so greatly that Jesus’ blood does not cover it. The key is to repent (completely turn away) from whatever the sin is, and to ask God to renew our hearts and minds so that we can live our lives without that sin. We can be full of praise and thankfulness because: “…God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Thanks be to God that He is a God of second chances!