Matthew 9:16-17
"When someone sews a patch over a hole in an old coat, they never use a piece of cloth that has not already been shrunk. If they do, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. Also, people never pour new wine into old wineskins. They would break, the wine would spill out, and the wineskins would be ruined. People always put new wine into new wineskins, which won't break, and the wine stays good."
What I see from Jesus' words are that we can not mix old with the new. If you put a fresh piece of cloth to patch an old coat, the patch will shrink and make the hole bigger in the coat. If new wine is put in old skin, the skin will break and the wine will go to waste.
What first comes to my mind is religion. The followers of John asked Jesus about fasting because they and the Pharisees fast often - a lot. So why would Jesus bring this to their attention? I guess its because every other religion I hear or learn about has to deal with earning salvation. There's the mentality that if we are good, we'll make it to heaven but Jesus brought a "new" truth to the table.
We can't earn salvation. All we have to do is accept Jesus Christ - God's one and only Son and believe. It doesn't take work or being good on a pharisee level. When we put our trust in Christ, we're saved and that can't be taken from us.
This is for me. Lately, I've been focused on works. Am I doing enough, am I loving enough, am I sharing enough. There's nothing wrong with these questions - these are good questions to ask and apply to ourselves. However, I think I'm focusing too much on these things and I'm basing my relationship with God with how well I perform. The pharisees did that and God called them white-washed tombs - beautiful to look at but ugly and dead on the inside.
When I focus too much on my works and if I'm still in God's good grace instead of trusting Him, I stop enjoying my relationship with Him. I start worrying and wondering if God will keep me or throw me away. Emotionally I become wrecked because I forgot the basics: I'm saved by grace. I couldn't earn it - that's why it's a free gift from God. All I did was accept Him and Jesus gave me the wisdom to do that.
Jesus found me.
And by His grace, I won't fail. God gave me a promise and a dream. He's faithful to complete the work He started in me. So what do I have to fail?
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At His Feet
SpiritualLately we can all get a little like Martha: we worry a lot and strive to reach that scale of perfection. It wears us down and saps the joy out of our hearts. Times like that, I know I need to be like Mary Magdalene, who sat at Jesus feet and let His...
