CHANGE IS GOOD?

 May 13, 2024

Matthew 9:9-16

9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

14Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

15Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.17Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

CHANGE IS GOOD?

“A little change will do you good,” so the song goes. Yet for most of us change is considered an unpleasant experience. New things, Changes, require preparation, flexibility, and a willingness to go through the process of change.

Change is found throughout the Bible. Truth is, God has been leading people out of old, unhealthy ways of thinking and living for thousands of years! Some, 700 years prior to Jesus birth in Isaiah 43:19, God said, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; do you not perceive it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” It is important for us to remember that in order to receive and experience the new things which God wants to do, we must be prepared to change and create space for growth.

Jesus Himself clearly spoke of the power of change when He shared His Parable of the Wine and Wineskins in Matthew 9:17: “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Wineskins were leather pouches that stored wine in Jesus’ time. You see, unfermented wine expands and will break old, rigid wineskins as it ages, whereas new wineskins have the elasticity to handle the pressure as unfermented wine expands.

So what is Jesus is teaching? His words indicate that “The old rituals of Judaism and the sacrificial system cannot contain the freshness that comes from the Gospel and grace of God.” The problem with old structures is they can’t contain new life! Jesus was calling for something new, new thoughts, new attitudes, new actions, new habits, and new lifestyles. CHANGE.

I believe that God wants to do a fresh work of grace in our hearts and our lives, so let us be women and men who have open, yielding hearts that are willing to change!


As you reflect today on our Bible Reading:

• What is God saying to you?
• What does it mean for you?
• What action step do you need to take?

After you reflect on these questions, bring everything to God in prayer.