New wine needs fresh wineskins!

Mark 2:18-22

John’s disciples and the Jewish leaders sometimes fasted, that is, went without food as part of their religion. One day some people came to Jesus and asked why his disciples didn’t do this too. Jesus replied, “Do friends of the bridegroom refuse to eat at the wedding feast? Should they be sad while he is with them? But some day he will be taken away from them, and then they will mourn. Besides, going without food is part of the old way of doing things. It is like patching an old garment with unshrunk cloth! What happens? The patch pulls away and leaves the hole worse than before. You know better than to put new wine into old wineskins. They would burst. The wine would be spilled out and the wineskins ruined. New wine needs fresh wineskins.”

Food for thought!

The man who walks with Christ walks in radiance of joy. This is what Jesus is trying to teach us on innumerable occasions. This time round, he compares this joy to a wedding joy. At the wedding the bride enjoys the company of the bridegroom, and the bridegroom enjoys the company of the bride. All this means that it is good for our souls to be with Jesus, and that Jesus too enjoys our company. Think about it, Jesus enjoys to be with you. Do you enjoy Jesus moment? Do you have in your day any JESUS MOMENT?

It also tells us that no human joy lasts for ever. John's disciples were at this time sad because John was already in prison. For Jesus' disciples that time of sorrow would come when Jesus is imprisoned. It is one of the great inevitabilities of life that the dearest joy must come to an end. All humans and their joys pass away. Jesus alone is the same yesterday, today and for ever; God alone abides amidst all the chances and the changes of life. The dearest human relationships must some day come to an end; it is only the joy of heaven which lasts for ever, and if we have it in our hearts, nothing can take it away.

This also means that days will come, days of challenges, of hardships, of suffering. It means that life was not meant to be easy. Life is a challenge. Even for Jesus there was a moment of agony; he could not and did not escape it. Jesus was never under any illusions; clearly at the end of the road he saw the Cross awaiting him. He knew that for him the way of life was the way of the Cross, and yet he did not swerve one step aside from it. Here is the courage of the man who knows what God's way costs, and who yet goes on. o, seize the moment, seize the present joy, seize the week and all its opportunities. Don't shut your mind for new ideas. We should never be afraid of adventurous thought.

Many people are afraid of new methods, new innovations, new ideas. They forget that in the foundation of every achievement, there were thoughts at work. You may realize the existence of thoughts and their significance, by naming them as a vision, an aim, or a goal, and so on. All these concepts are, one way or the other, different names given to the same thing— thoughts— which give birth to words, and trigger actions, initiating the phenomenon of big achievements in life. You’ll find that almost every single achievement, whether in science, technology, or arts, had thoughts in its foundation.

If you aim to achieve something exceptional in life, your journey has to start off with thoughts. Ao don't be afraid to think. Jesus' plea to us is to be open minded! At least this week.