Access to God’s Spirit

“There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’” (John 2:1-5).

Jesus had just begun his ministry and already had a small following of disciples. This miracle at the wedding in Cana was his first and it revealed his glory to the world in spectacular fashion. Yet it contains deep significance for the church beyond that time and place.  

Throughout the New Testament, wine is associated with the manifest presence of God through the Holy Spirit. In this scene, wine was at the center of the wedding celebration and was poured out freely to be served to the invited guests. It is a picture of a joyful people to whom God’s Spirit flows freely. But verse three contains a powerfully symbolic phrase: “When the wine ran out.”

The hosts ran out of wine at the wedding and the people needed it replenished to sustain their joy. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit present in us, yet we have to be filled with the Spirit continually as we experience an ebb and flow in our walk with Christ. This does not mean the Spirit leaves us, but we are called back again and again to quench the deep thirst that the Spirit himself puts in us.

The best way to be filled with God’s Spirit is simply to heed his voice and obey his commands. Doing so provides us with peace, safety and joy, and allows us to speak to God with authority. As followers of Jesus, we are to be filled with his peace, unshaken by evil, our lives shining as lights amid darkness. We are to have a ready response when those around us ask, “How can you have such peace in the midst of all that is going on?”

God is going to have a testimony of his goodness in the midst of panic, a testimony of holiness in evil times. Pray with me: “Lord, pour out the wine of your Spirit on me — your wine of healing, anointing, deliverance and restoration. Move through your children to bring new life. Amen!”