Dave's Diary

Prayer

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 42:1

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, my God.
Please come and satisfy my longing as i spend this time with You. Amen.

Reading

John 2:1-11

The Gospel of John is so rich in meaning that most days we will feel as though these devotions are just scratching the surface of the passages we read. And, in many ways, that will be true. But we continue our quest to discover “everything Jesus commanded us”. So we’ll continue to look at our daily Bible readings through that lens and leave the other elements of the readings for another season.

For a couple to have run out of wine at their wedding banquet would have been a terrible embarrassment to them among their fellow villagers. The failure would have followed them for a long time and may even have been seen as a bad sign for the future of their marriage.

Into this crisis stepped Mary. John does not tell us why she was so invested in this event and in the couple’s wellbeing. Extra-biblical tradition suggests that Mary was related to the groom’s mother and may have been assisting with the arrangements. But, whatever the reason, Mary cared enough and also had enough authority in the household to take the problem to Jesus for help. And even when He seemed to be resisting her attempts to get Him involved, she trusted His compassion and kindness enough to believe that He would not leave this problem unsolved.

Mary could not see a human way for this problem to be solved. She did not know what Jesus would command the servants to do. But she trusted His wisdom and power so profoundly that she gave the servants a blanket instruction:

‘Do whatever he tells you.’ (v.5)

The servants in turn would not have understood why on earth Jesus commanded them to fill the water jars to the brim. They would have been utterly confused when He commanded them to draw out a cup of water that was meant for the washing of feet, faces and hands and take it to the master of the banquet to taste! But to their credit, they unquestioningly did what he told them to do.

What a wonderful principle for every disciple to live by: Trust Jesus enough that whenever you cannot see a solution to a problem or are unsure of His will in a given situation, you take your problem to Him and listen for His instructions. And then, even when you do not understand the logic of His instructions, do whatever He tells you. In other words, to quote an old hymn: “Trust and obey!”

May we be given grace to trust and obey today!

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will trust Jesus in every situation.
• I will ask Him for directions.
• I will obey His directions.

Holy Spirit, please give me the grace to discern the voice of Jesus in every given situation. And please give me the faith to trust and obey whatever He tells me to do. Amen.