When Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana, it was a feat of transformation. The wash water was changed into wine, but not just "cheap" wine or raw new wine. The transformation was so extensive that the water became the best wine, with the deepest flavor, fullest body.
Anyone who drank the wash-water wine knew, instantly, that it was not just special. It was the best.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, we, too, are supposed to be changed. For examples of that change, we need look no further than the lives of Peter and Paul.
A rough fisherman was changed into a bold and fiery preacher. A legalistic, murderous Pharisee was changed into a man filled with grace, willing to lay down his life for the one whose legacy he'd tried to annihilate.
They were changed into more vibrant versions of themselves.
Are we that transformed?
When people outside the body of Christ encounter us, do they find a disciple with a life that's full of God-adventure, joy, and delight in what God brings our way?
Are our lives more attractive because of the full-bodied flavor Christ adds?
Jesus said, "I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10 kjv)
The word translated as "abundantly" literally means, "more than sufficient, over and above, abundant."(1) We're supposed to live a live that's "over and above" what we would live without Christ. This isn't a "material possessions and money in the bank" kind of above; it's the work of the Spirit in us.
The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Imagine for a moment what our lives would be like if we allowed Christ to so completely transform us that our lives were filled with an abundance of joy, peace, love?
Not only would we have wonderful lives, but those around us would be drawn to the Christ in us, from whom our great lives flowed.
Are we utterly transformed or not?
If we are not living the abundant life Christ came to give us, something is wrong, and it needs to change.
Today, let's spend some time evaluating the life others see in us. Is it a life of joy? Love? Hope? Peace? Does the sweetness of God's Spirit overflow to all around us?
That's the life we're supposed to have, so let's ask God to do what it takes to get us there. Let's pray that we will live the kinds of lives that cause people to say, "I don't know what she/he has, but I want it."
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that that might have life; and have it abundantly." John 10:10 nasb
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