As a Japanese
student was about to leave the home of her American
friend, her hostess asked, "Did you have a happy
time with us?" "O yes, a beautiful
time," she answered, "except I've missed
the God in your house." "The God in my
house?" asked the American. "You
know," said the Japanese girl, "in my
country each house has its god-shelf, and we worship
every day, but you have no God in your house."
Is God in your house? If he isn't, why don't you ask
Him to come into your heart and home right now! One
couple invited Him to the wedding and it was at their
feast that He performed His first miracle.
Let's go to
that place. It's written in John 2:1 and 2,
"There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and
the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was
called, and His disciple, to the marriage." It
wasn't at a synagogue or on a stage that our Lord
performed His first miracle, but at a wedding in a
home. To Him a home was a place for which nothing but
His best was good enough. How often we're our best
with strangers and our worst at home. Never forget
that it was in the home that our Lord displayed His
greatness and His glory, and so should we!
Let's look at
His personality. Our Lord was wanted at the feast,
and He wanted to be there. He was no killjoy. He went
around, when He was on earth, saying, "Be of
good cheer." Christ wants the Christian to be
cheerful! A cheerful Christian is a great
commendation. Like Christ, let's promote cheer; and
then we'll have conversions. More flies are caught
with honey than vinegar, and more souls are saved by
the Christians who wear heaven in their faces than
hades in their frowns!
Let's look at
the problem. The wine gave out at the wedding, and
Mary turned to Jesus and said, "They have no
wine." She wanted Him to show a sign and prove
His power. But He answered, "Woman, what have I
to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come."
Don't think our Lord was mean to His mother. He
wasn't. The word "woman" on the lips of our
Lord was a term of tenderness. He said in effect,
"Mother, Mine, what is the thing you have on
your heart? My hour is not yet come." Did He
mean He wouldn't work a miracle? No, He meant,
"This sign can't satisfy the hunger of your
heart. It won't produce the effect you desire."
Well, then, what did He mean by the expression,
"My hour is not yet come"? The hour He
referred to was the hour He would suffer for our
sins. He knew that He was born to die for our sins.
He saw His life, not in doing what He wished, but in
doing what His Father willed. Like Christ, the
Christian must not think of his own pleasure but of
the Father's plan.
Let's look at
the provision. The wine failed, so they looked to the
Lord. The world's wine will always fail. Sadly the
poet sobbed, "Pleasures are like poppies spread
- you seize the flower, its bloom is shed." Not
so, the pleasure of the Lord. "Every day with
Jesus is sweeter than the day before." But let
me ask you, has your life become like a wedding in
which the wine has run out? Your joy is gone. Your
happiness is lost. Oh look to the Lord. In the story
of the Scriptures, He said, "Fill the jars with
water." You see, just as the jars were empty, so
your life is empty without the Lord. It's drab, dull
and disappointing. But with the Lord its exciting!
Now there were 6 water-jars there, and each one held
about 30 gallons of water, and they were filled to
the brim. No wedding party could have consumed 180
gallons. What, then, is the meaning? When you come to
the Lord, you don't come to a famine but to a feast.
He always gives you more than you need. In closing,
look at the pleasure. The governor of the feast said,
"Thou has kept the good wine until now."
The devil always gives his best first. First there's
the thrill, then the torture. But it's different with
the Lord. He takes away the bad and gives the good.
He changes the worst into the best. He gives
happiness with no hangover. Having found that the
pleasures of sin didn't satisfy, a worldly man turned
to the Lord. He was so joyful that he could scarcely
find words to express himself. One day, in a
testimony meeting, he said, "I'm happier now,
when I'm not happy, than I was before when I was
happy."
"Taste
for yourself, and you will say: None other name for
me,
There's love
and light, and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in
Thee."
Why don't you
come to the Lord and enjoy His joy unspeakable? God
bless you!
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
Click here to go
to the next message in this Sower Scripture Study on
the book of John.
This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
