Today’s Reading: Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39

QUESTION: “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” – Matthew 9:14

This was a question asked by one of the disciples of John the Baptist. He had been taught to make a regular habit of fasting, as did the Pharisees. He noticed that Jesus’ disciples were not fasting and he went straight to Jesus for an explanation. What a great place to take our questions — straight to the One who has the answer!

It seems like a common tendency in the church for us to look around at other believers and take notice of how they are living out their faith. We question their choices and sometimes doubt our own habits of discipleship. We wonder who is right and who is wrong, or we arrogantly assume we are the one who needs to impose our own thoughts on those around us.

We have a tendency to compare ourselves with others and worry about how we measure up with someone else, or how another believer measures up with us. God has made each one of us unique and He has a plan for our lives that is different from anyone else’s. It is NOT God’s plan for us to criticize our brothers and sisters in Christ, but to lift them up in prayer and support their obedience to God.

Jesus’ response to John’s disciple spoke to the heart of this question. The great teacher did something so many educators are known for doing — he answered his question with another question.

ANSWER: Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Then Jesus gave them this illustration: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old garment. For then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old garment. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins. But no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. ‘The old is just fine,’ they say.” – Luke 5:34-39

Sometimes the old is not compatible with the new. If I buy the newest available software and then try to load it on a computer I have had for ten years, the two are not going to be compatible. If a church hangs onto old traditions in a changing culture, they may find their numbers declining. My point is that sometimes we hold so tightly to the non-essentials of yesterday that we miss out on the new thing that God is doing today.

Are we ready for the new thing God wants to do in our lives? When we daily spend time in the Word, are we available to receive a new revelation from the Spirit or are we hanging on tightly to an old mindset? Are we too comfortable with the familiar or are we eager for God to give us a fresh perspective?

Lord, open our hearts so that we are always ready to love and support our fellow believers. Open our minds so that we are always a student of the Spirit living within us. Open our schedules to spend time studying your Word with fresh eyes and clear thoughts so that we can hear from you today. Amen.