Many sermons have been preached about the first miracle that Jesus performed. It was a stunning display of the power He used to create and a beautiful picture of His compassion for people in tough situations.
Some also say it’s confirmation that Jesus is okay with us drinking wine, but we’ll leave that topic for another time.
The snapshot of the miracle is that the hosts of a wedding party needed more wine, and so Jesus turned water into wine that was better than anything that the hosts could have bought. Cue the wedding band and keep on dancing!
But what strikes me isn’t so much that Jesus provided more and better — what I would call the overflow — but rather what had to happen before He did.
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” (John 2:1-3 NIV, emphasis mine)
Overflow requires a source that doesn’t run out, and we aren’t it. Jesus didn’t provide the miraculous wine until there wasn’t any more wine. It was “when the wine was gone” that the new wine appeared.
[Tweet “Overflow requires a source that doesn’t run out, and we aren’t it.”]Sometimes — okay, more like all the time — we have to get to the end of ourselves to find the overflow. Our sufficiency has limits, but God’s sufficiency is limitless. There is no end to His strength, power, hope, love, grace, forgiveness, provision, and any other attribute you or I would want to add to a list that also has no end.
So, why don’t we live in His overflow more? Simply because we don’t like running out. A lot of us have perfected the art of running low — we’re masters at squeezing in another task or two after the empty light on our energy gauge as come on — but the wine wasn’t running low. It was gone.
[Tweet “A lot of us have perfected the art of running low, but the wine wasn’t running low. It was gone.”]So, if you’re in a place where you aren’t running low but have literally found yourself out of gas and sitting on the side of the road, I’ve got great news for you: help is on the way. And Jesus isn’t bringing you a gallon or two of the gas you’re used to, either. Nope, He’s going to hook you up with some out-of-this-world, high octane, Holy Spirit-injected rocket fuel.
Because that’s how He rolls, and when we get a taste of His overflow, it’s how we’ll roll, too.
