There are thousands of acres of vineyards that surround where I live. We often take drives along country roads lined with rows and rows of grapes just to get away from the busyness of our lives. Every fall, you can watch as the workers harvest the crops and take them to be processed into wine. The color of the grape determines what their juice will be stored in. White wines go into stainless steel vats, and red wines go into oak barrels. This preserves the wine as they go through the fermenting process. Today, Jesus shows you a new work in your life that He wants to accomplish.
LUKE 5:37
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.”
A Metaphor for Life
Jesus uses an example in life that everyone would’ve understood. Wine was stored in wineskins, which were converted goat bladders. New wine emits gasses that stretch the container in which it is placed. Old wineskins have already expanded to their limit, so you wouldn’t put new wine in them. Jesus uses this to refer to the new work He is doing. The old system of obeying the law wasn’t going to work with the new work of grace. You are no longer going to be judged by your good works or by keeping the rules, but instead if the righteousness of Christ is on you.
A New Way of Doing Things
Christians are still trying to earn their way into heaven. This is happening because churches are teaching good works over the grace of Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but fulfill it. He lived the perfect life required by the law so that He could die on the cross and become your substitute sacrifice to remove your sins. Life in Christ isn’t found by being a good person but by the redeeming work on the cross.
A New Work in Your Life
Are you trying to fit the new work of Jesus into the old ways of your life? If so, it will only produce frustration. Learn to live in the forgiveness and freedom that Christ offers you. Let Him change your heart and do a new work in your life.