Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Ordinary Things that God Makes Extraordinary
They are just ordinary, everyday things that God makes extrordinary.
Water. You see it everywhere. Common and found all over our world. People drink it. They cook with it. They wash themselves with it. They wash clothes and dishes. They use it to grow things.
And they are baptized in it. Not to get clean on the outside, but to get clean on the inside. I Peter 3:20-21. God's work in the waters of baptism saves us. The Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Acts 2:38. God's mercy, grace, and love meeting our faith and love in the water. Ordinary H20. That changes everything. That makes us holy by the blood of Jesus. Where we share in his death. Romans 6:3-5. I have baptized people in baptistries, horse troughs, hot tubs, fountains, swimming pools, and lakes. Ordinary water where God does something extraordinary.
Bread. Common in every meal all over the world. But when Jesus shared it with his apostles it was extraordinary. We are invited into that same meal with Jesus. I Corinthians 11:23-24. A meal of ordinary bread that has the power to focus our memories on what God has done for us. The gift of his Son. Our declaration that we believe Jesus came to this earth and died for our sins. I have had homemade flat bread, crackers, bread that I pulled apart, bread that handed to me, and bread that I went to the table to get. Ordinary bread that is the body of Jesus. Extraordinary gift of God.
Wine. Served at almost every meal in Jesus' time. Ordinary beverage that becomes a memorial to the blood of Jesus. I Corinthians 11:25-26. A call to examine ourselves and to remind ourselves that we believe Jesus died. I have had wine, grape juice, homemade wine, fermented wine, and rasin wine. Ordinary drink that is used by believers to announce our conviction that Jesus will come back. Because we believe.
Water, bread, wine. Ordinary items made extraorinary by God. Made holy by God.
And most amazing of all -- the ordinary me that God has made holy by the blood of His Son.
Extraordinary.
How great is our God.
