The New Wine Life | Mark 2:21-22

The Daily Devotional by Vince Miller

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every single day.

We are in the Gospel of Mark. Visit the website and purchase the Scripture Journal for this study so that you can follow along with us.

I would love to give a shout-out today to Shawn Ryan from Currituck, NC. Thanks for being a partner with the ministry. We cannot do what we do without the support of faithful individuals like you. This is for you, Shawn!

Today, we’re looking at Mark 2:21-22:

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” — Mark 2:21-22

Today, Jesus continues teaching about the new life that he brings with him using two pictures that would’ve been familiar to everyone listening: cloth and wineskins.

He makes two points:

1. You can’t sew new cloth onto old cloth without creating a larger tear.
2. You can’t pour new wine into brittle old wineskins without making a bigger mess.

The reasoning and application won't work in natural life, and it especially won't work in the spiritual life. This is because a little bit of something new in your spiritual life will not improve your old spiritual life. It may worsen the situation. What you need is not a spiritual touch-up. You need a whole new Spirit. This is what Jesus came to reveal. And that is what he is teasing out here, which eventually will be revealed after his death, resurrection, and ascension.

You can't fit the life Jesus offers into any of the old frameworks you used to live by. If you try to do this, it will tear and burst. What you need is a whole new way of life. You need a new mind. A new heart. A new spirit. Which will change how you think, feel, and act.

If you’ve been trying to squeeze a little bit of Jesus into an old way of thinking, feeling, and acting, you need to know it's not going to work. Eventually, your spiritual life will tear and burst. You cannot treat Jesus like an accessory or add-on. You must let him build something new in you from the ground up.

Because Jesus is not interested in patch jobs. Jesus offers total transformations.

So, what "old wineskin" (hurt, habit, hangup) are you still trying to use in Jesus' "new wine" life?

#newwinenewlife, #spiritualtransformation, #mark2

ASK THIS:

1. What old patterns in your life don’t fit with the new life Jesus offers?
2. Why do you think it's so tempting to cling to "old wineskins"?
3. Where do you need fresh vision, fresh trust, or fresh obedience today?
4. How can you live more fully in the new life Jesus offers?

DO THIS:

Identify one old habit, mindset, or attitude you know Jesus is calling you to leave behind. Write it down—and pray for the courage to release it today.

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, you came to make me new, not just better. Give me the courage to release the old ways that can’t contain the life you want to pour into me. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

New Wine.