About two weeks ago I was listening to a sermon delivered by a colleague of mine here in Bloemfontein.
Pastor Abie Pelser was preaching on the story of Jesus’s first miracle. It’s the one where He turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
The story briefly goes like this:
Jesus attended a wedding with His mother in the town of Cana. At some point in the Festivities, which often lasted up to a week long, 
the hosts ran out of wine. This posed a very embarrassing situation for them. Jesus’ Mother stepped in and asked Him to help. She told the Servants to go with Jesus and do whatever He told them to do. Somewhat reluctantly, Jesus helped out. He told them to go and fill the clay water Jars with Fresh Water. They did this. Then he turned that water into wine. The quality of wine was so good that the Guests even complimented the Host on serving the very best wine last.
Here’s a couple of observations about the story:
The Jars used were almost empty. The Servants were to “fill” the jars with water. If the jars were not empty, they wouldn’t have been able to fill them with water. Once filled, the water in the Jars was miraculously turned into the very best wine.
Pastor Pelser pointed out two very interesting things in His sermon. First He mentioned that water in the Bible and particularly fresh water was often used as a symbol of the “Word Of God”. Also, “Wine” in the Bible was often used to symbolize the “Kingdom Of Heaven”.
So as he was explaining this to us it occurred to me that in this story, an empty Jar was filled with “The Word Of God” and when it was full, Jesus turned the “Word of God” into the “Kingdom of Heaven”.
Do you see the symbolism?
What about us? Do we search for the “Kingdom Of Heaven”? Do we search for that place where we can experience life in all its fullness? Jesus never spoke of this place as if it was distant from us. He never spoke of it as a place that we had to physically go to “One Day”. No. He spoke of the Kingdom 
and being in the here and now and available to each and everyone who wanted to find it.
How do we get there? What do we do?
Well, perhaps we need to make our lives like those empty clay jars. Perhaps we need to be empty in Spirit inside ourselves and then fill ourselves up with that beautiful fresh water the “Word Of God”. Once we are full, Jesus can turn that into the “Kingdom of Heaven”.
To experience the Kingdom, be empty and ready to receive. Then get filled with the Word of God.
Let Jesus turn that water in your life in you into wine.
