We think in linear time: beginning, middle, end —Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 – sequel. But with God and Jesus time is not a constraint but a canvas. What God speaks into existence has no beginning and end. At least not until he determines its lifespan.
Consider for a moment that your words are eternal. That what you speak and write goes forth and goes back, is the power of life and death for tomorrow, yesterday, and today. (Proverbs 18:21)
Early in his ministry Jesus visited Cana in Galilee. On the third day a wedding took place with Jesus and his disciples in attendance. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing. In the Book of Exodus we learn that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet with water before entering the tent of meeting. They did this so they would not go into the holy glory and presence of God and be struck dead. (Exodus 30:19-20)
To all but his mother and a few disciples, Jesus is but a common man. An individual rumored to be a bastard child. A nobody from Nazareth, a backwater town of little importance.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled the six stone jars, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
If you wish to know how faith works, we find it in Jesus’ instructions. “Draw some out. Take it to.”
Two simple directives that carry great risk — for it the servants took washing water to the master of the banquet they would be subject to ridicule at the very least and, depending on their status as servants, the lash.
Yet they obeyed.
This is how faith moves from our head to our heart. We may know a great deal about Jesus but until we risk obeying his words, we do not know him, not really.
The master of the banquet tasted the water.
Let us stop and ask:
- What was the master expecting?
- What were the servants expecting?
- What was Mary, the mother of Jesus, expecting?
- What do you expect Jesus to do for you?
From the time the servants began walking from the jars to when they reached the master of the banquet, washing water became wine. And not just any wine but the choicest wine. “The best wine is served first,” the master said, “then after the guests have had too much to drink, the cheaper wine, But you have saved the best till now.” (John 2:1-10)
Great wine takes months or years to reach its peak flavor. Jesus’ wine took seconds.
In a moment, with a word, Jesus created the wine’s backstory. The vineyard, the grapes, the harvesting, its pressing, and fermenting all occurred instantly with a word from Jesus, or a sigh, or a silent command.
This is Jesus first recorded miracle in the New Testament, but it’s not his first recorded miracle. In fact, it’s one of many leading up to this moment.
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Through the Word all things were made. Without the Word nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3) So we might read the third day of creation in this way.
The Word said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God (the master) saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. (Genesis 1:9-13)
With a word Jesus commanded water to be changed from a group of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom into flavonols, anthocyanins and tannins. If he can do that with water, he can do it with your book. If he can create good things from what was not, he can breathe life into your book.
Question is, will we speak life into our books and walk in faith, trusting that the power of the spoken word from Jesus will transform a mere book into something excellent?
Or will we keep believing the lie that we are not worthy of the best?
How we respond will determine the success of our book.
