New Wine

"No man pours new wine into old wine skins." Mark 2:22

When I wake up in the morning, I am eager to read God’s Word, and see what God has in store for me. It was not always so. I would have to force myself to read the Bible. Five minutes of reading stretched into eternity! What changed? I attended what was called the “Life in the Spirit” seminar and I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I remember that after that, I felt I had to highlight all the words in the Bible! They all jumped out at me! 

I just started the book about the life of Smith Wigglesworth, the 19th century evangelist. He was a simple man whose wife Polly had been an effective preacher for twenty years before Smith was baptized in the Spirit. Polly demanded concrete proof of Smith’s baptism and said, “Next Sunday you go on to the platform by yourself- and I’ll see if there is anything in it.” 

Smith, who had never before preached, went up and spoke. Talking about it in a sermon twenty-two years later, he preached: “I don’t know what I said- but my wife got up- she sat down- she got up- she sat down- she said, ‘That is not my husband.’ No man can be filled with the Holy Ghost and be the same man. He is turned into another man.”

Indeed, we can trust Jesus to do new things in our life. Our old ways will be like old wine skins, dry and brittle. Jesus’ words will be exciting, new, original. Reading it will be exhilarating and like going on a new adventure every day. Lord, we pray for a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit. Come Lord, and fill us with new wine!