Turning water to wine to keep the wedding party going.  That was the “first of his miraculous signs Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee.”

I find that curious.  Why would Jesus choose to do that as his first miracle?  Why not perform a dramatic healing?  Feed 5,000?  Drive out demons in a spectacular fashion?

We know that John uses the term “sign” to indicate that the miracle was signifying something beyond itself.  So what was this miracle really about?

In Timothy Keller’s devotional book on the Psalms, he asserts that “it was to communicate his mission, not just to secure pardon from sin, but to restore us to fullness of life, to bring festival joy.  You have not received all God wants to give until you have gotten ‘the oil of joy instead of mourning’ (Isaiah 61:3)."

Jesus brings us the joy of the promise of the new heaven and the new earth to come, but He also offers us the joy of today, a foretaste of what is to come.

“Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?   Come to me.  Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”  (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message translation)

Living freely and lightly.  Doesn’t that sound too good to be true?  Impossible in these times?

In “Soul Reset”, Junius B. Dotson wrote that wholeness - in body, mind, and spirit – “looks like the ability to be able to share Christ out of our abundance because we are so close to Jesus that his grace and love have filled us up to the point that it overflows from us to others.”  This wholeness is what leads to light and free living.

I’ve been missing this lately.  I’ve fallen away from the spiritual practices that have kept me close to Jesus.  I’ve failed to maintain some margin in my life, to allow me to spend meaningful time with God every day.

But God is so good.  So faithful.  He has provided me with people in my life that are pulling me back.  Helping me reclaim that closeness.  And it is exciting.  Joyful.  I can’t wait to see what new things Jesus is going to share with me.  What new ways He will inspire me to live as His follower.

This is a journey that is partly just between me and Jesus, but it is also a journey I am taking with others.  Having others to encourage me, to help me be accountable in my daily practices, and to share ideas and insights with, makes the journey all the sweeter.  From the comfort of hearing a “me too” when I share something that I thought I was alone in feeling, to the “a-ha” moment when we unpack something together and it finally begins to click.

What about you?  Is God stirring any longings in you?  I’m here to say to you – there is more.  So much more.  More joy, more fulfillment, more peace.  Don’t be comfortable where you are.  Join me in the journey towards living freely and lightly with Jesus.

You can contact me at kwu@centreville-umc.org if I’m speaking to you, and you want suggestions on next steps, and/or some people to walk with on this journey.