Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
MATTHEW 9:14-17| Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
In the church, it is up to us to respect and honor traditions, just as Jesus honored and valued the Torah. But as this famous passage indicates, our Lord brings new wine that requires new wine skins. God’s spirit is innovative and creative. Wisdom consists in deciding what to maintain and preserve from the past and what new things to embrace for the future.
In our New Heart efforts we are maintaining the essential structure of our classic Sanctuary but also including new technologies and fresh elements. We inherit deep truths and seek to convey them in new ways.
What is fresh and new in your spiritual life?
What is familiar, time-tested, and true?
