Steve Ellison: When Your Pot Runs Dry

  • Saturday, July 25, 2015
  • Steve Ellison

Jesus made His first public appearance and performed His first miracle at a wedding.  John 2:2 tells us that He showed up there because He was invited.  Jesus ought to be invited to every wedding, keeping in mind that it is up to the creature to conform his ideas of marriage to those of the Creator.  With that in mind, Jesus should be a welcomed guest at every wedding.  Jewish weddings in that era were joyous occasions lasting several days.  Because intoxication is Satan’s counterfeit of God’s joy, drunkenness was forbidden.  Because the commands against drunkenness were strict, it was unlikely that the guests became drunk, but wine still flowed freely at these first century weddings.

At this particular wedding in Cana, the wine ran out.  As Christians, we endeavor to do many things.  No matter whether it is work, ministry, recreation, etc. we can be sure that at some point our pot will run dry.  Our talents, abilities, and efforts will prove to be not enough.  We will run smack up against a painful truth: we are not able to finish what we have set out to do. 

Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave a great piece of advice.  In fact, this advice is perfect for every wedding, marriage, household, or ministry.  Mary said to the wedding servants, “Whatever, He says to you, do it.”(NASU, John 2:5)  Jesus told the wedding servants to fill six ceremonial waterpots to the brim.  Surely, the command made no sense to them but they did it anyway.  The One Who Created the Universe miraculously converted some of the water He created into wine.  The wedding guests testified that the new wine was better than the first wine.  Doing whatever Jesus says is always right and best.  Often it will not make logical sense from a human perspective because we are not omniscient or omnipotent but the results will always be better than we could even imagine.  It has been rightly said many times by many people that Nature forms us; Sin deforms us; Education informs us; Prisons reform us; Only Jesus transforms us.  The same is true of our human efforts.  Only Jesus transforms our meager efforts into something good.

While it is true that only God is the source of all good things, that does not mean we have no part to play.  Jesus gave a command to the servants in John 2:8 And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. (NASU)  Christ is the source but He has allowed us to be the delivery agent.  We are conduits of His grace.  We are channels of mercy flowing forth from Him.  It is a tremendous privilege to join Him in His work.  The obedient service of the wedding servants delivered joy provided by Christ.  We have the exact same privilege today.

When we obey Christ by serving as a channel of grace and mercy to others, we can be sure of one thing.  John 2:11 tells of the marvelous result, This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. (NASU)  Jesus did the miracle but the wedding servants played a part in Jesus manifesting His glory and thus in the disciples believing in Jesus.  Our obedience to Christ will result in Jesus manifesting His glory to a watching world.  This manifestation of glory will result in others gaining saving faith in Jesus.  Your pot running dry may very well be your greatest opportunity.

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pastorsteve8800@gmail.com

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