"NEW-WINE Truth for the Twentieth Century"

(Hezekiah) remove the high places and broke down
the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He
also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses
had made, for until those days the sons of Israel
burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
                                                         ---2Kings 18:4

   Two significant aplications jump out of the
 parable and hurdle the centuries.
First: our God is a God of freshness and change.
yeth He Himself doesn't change (Heb.13:8 His
character is fixed, but His action is fluid--like a
river flowing from the rock. Winding
circuitously, the works of God wash freshly over
 both Testaments.
   The Old Testament speaks of a new song a new
heart . .a new spirit. . . a new covenant. The new
Testament speak of a new birth. . a new creature.
a new commandment. . a new heaven and a new
earth. The Bible's last reference to new is found
in Revelation 21:5, where the Lord says that He's
"making all thing new."
    But traditionalism tends to resist the new and
retreat to the old. Remember the bronze serpent
God told Moses to hold up in the wilderness? It
Provided healing for those who were dying from
snakebites (see Num.21:8-9). For years Until at
last, God broke their tradition. Read the devotion
verse.
Second:significant fact emerging from Like 5 is
this: new wineskins are essential, not optional.
Most people are maintainers, not innovators.
 That's why traditionalism appeals to majority.
 But in each age, new things are wrought by
God. And if we're going to accommodate the new,
fresh working of God, then new wine skins are
essential.
   Is your wine still fresh, or are you living on
experiences from generation ago? Are you tapping
into new, bubbling, sparkling wine? Or has your
faith grown flat and tasteless lost its effervescence?
    And how about the wineskin? Are you still
flexible, or has traditionalism given your life a
rigid, brittle texture? How open are you to change?
How willing are you to risk? How quickly will you
strike out in response to a new direction from God?
    As we have seen, our God is aGod of new and
fresh. Which means that we, too, are to be people
of newness and flexibility. As Paul commands in
Ephesians 5:1: "Therefore be imitators of God, as
beloved children." We mustn't turn our lipss, then,
from the new wine of excellence to remain at the
old wine of tradition of mediocrit
    By the time Christ appeared on the scene, the
religious leaders had so tightly woven their customs
into the fabric of scripture that it was often difficult
to extricate the truth of God from the tangle of
human tradition.
But Christ cut through that tangle like a machete
hacking through a jungle: God isn't interested in
Clean hands; He's interested in clean hearts
 ( Mark 7:15). He isn't impressed with lip service
(V6); He's impressed with obedience (cv.9-13).
   How about you? When you go to church, are
you more concerned with the condition of your
cashmere blazer than the condition of your heart?
Are you more careful not to smear your lipstick
than someone's reputation through gossip?
Remember, God isn't concerned with outward
apoearances He's concerned with the heart
(1Sam.16:7).