Follow Me, New Wineskins

1 Samuel 25-26; Psalms 63; Matthew 9 

“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me.’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. ‘Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.’”

Matthew 9:9, 17

The new wine of the gospel and the infilling of the Holy Spirit bring life to all who receive these gifts. For When Matthew the tax collector received the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, it meant leaving his job for the Romans as a tax collector and following Jesus. New wineskins speak to new ways of thinking as well as new structures. Jesus is still calling sin-sick people to a better life. The structures and mindset of the last revival are not enough for the new expressions of renewal and revival that God initiates. We are called to get up and follow Jesus in a life of mission that is forward-moving, not static.

What “new wineskins” will “follow me” lead to in our story with Jesus?

“Lord Jesus, I choose to follow you this day, for your glory.”