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Conscious of My Skin Care
John TiltonMatthew 9:16-17
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people 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.”
Jesus, spoke to John’s disciples about the “new wineskin” of the heart, mind and will. As new wine expands when it ferments and would burst the old rigid and stretched wine skins, Jesus spoke of the new wine of Jesus’ good news and how their hearts, mind and will would need to be pliable to receive the good news; not being set in old ways, old beliefs and old sinful ways. Their inability to be changed in their “skin” metaphorically speaking, would preclude them from being able to receive and hold on to the good news.
I realize that I do have some idiosyncrasies and tendencies in my perception, beliefs, outlook, and sensitivities from the past that have been ingrained in me over the years. I know that as the “filtering” process takes place from my ears, to my mind, and to my heart, that my old ways can sometimes be the swinging gate that may not let something important in to my heart, mind and will. I believe that I have to be conscious of my “skin” of receptivity, that my skin metaphorically speaking of my mind and heart needs to be pliable, discerning and stretchable. My time in God’s Word and devotions will be the “skin care” I need to keep my wineskin in good shape.
Dear Lord, may you continue to guide, mold and work in me to keep me pliable, discerning and stretchable; able to receive good news, yet filter out what is not of you.
