Change
Now Think On This
Steve Martin
"Moab has been at ease since his youth; he has also been undisturbed, like wine on its dregs,
and he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, and his aroma has not changed.” (Jeremiah 48:11, NASU)
From what I can tell, it wasn’t a good thing that Moab, written about in this Scripture verse, didn’t change. In fact, it sounds like rather than being a pleasant smell his flavor became undesirable. Does that happen when we resist or refuse, to change?
With my limited understanding of winemaking, the winery has to make sure the wine process continues by pouring the liquid from one vessel to another. Otherwise, the sediment that settles at the bottom of the barrel taints the wine, affecting the outcome in flavor. Now that wouldn’t be good for the finished product. The pouring process is an essential part of the best that is yet to come at the end.
I have found it to be true also in the human spirit. This is one reason why change is so important in our life. When we settle in one place, content to let things be as they are, without ruffling the feathers, or making waves, our spirit becomes tainted with the sediments that have fallen to the bottom. Rather than being poured out into the next vessel, to have that be left behind, these particles work themselves back into our soul. If left as that, certain undesirables can be stirred up. Such things as bitterness, unforgiveness, and resentment work themselves up to the surface again, never being left behind as they should be through forgiveness and forgetting what should be left behind.
I believe Paul understood this spiritual principle when he wrote, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-15, NASU) If we are to reach the best the Lord has in store for us we will be required to leave behind sediment that will ruin the flavor and aroma of our spiritual life. Change has to become a normal process in our daily walk.
Becoming settled in the ease of life will prevent us from walking in the faith we are called to walk out. Achieving more than just getting by, or becoming satisfied with being undisturbed, will prevent the Lord from providing the grace needed to become the best wine we have been called to become. Otherwise, we risk the action of being poured out on the ground, having lost the fullness of life.
Welcome change as it comes. Be prepared to say “Yes” when the Lord seeks more through you, with Him requesting a change from here to there, whether it be spiritual or in the natural. Expect change to open doors that must be opened in order to finish the call on your life. The next door, or vessel, is meant to take you “from glory to glory”.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV)
Going from one place to another will always require change. And change is required to achieve the final finished product we are meant to become.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
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Now Think On This #338 - in the year of our Lord 12.26.17 – “Change”, Tuesday, 9:45 am
