Scripture: "And no body puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the new wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine into fresh skins!" Mark 2:22

Prayer: A seagull just sailed by my window effortlessly in a movement not repeated previously for this observer to see. Guide me to be ever refreshed in the Lord's word.

Response: If it wasn't so early in the morning, it would seem that the verse is suggesting you find a wine skin. But no—consider this verse as directing you to read and meditate over the words of Scripture with fresh eyes and heart. They are the Lord's anointed words that reach you this morning—two thousand years after the words were first uttered, remembered, and recorded. And now, this morning, they convey special meaning for you many miles and years distant from the time when they were first spoken.

This morning you are imbibing new wine in the words, reflections, life experiences you embody; ensure that you are equally renewed—shedding prejudices, grievances, lost dreams, past sloth so that you can drink deeply of the new wine that offers you a unique transformation so that your flight is every bit as renewed and effortless as that seagull who just entertained you.

One might sometimes consider the new as the old, as when Scripture is read from an ancient volume discovered in a dusty library. Instead, for today, see the Scripture with new eyes—as a new wine poured into you, a wineskin renewed and reconciled in an everlasting present spirit of love. You now know that you will not burst, but rather be healed—and abundantly so.