Key Text: John. 2:1-11
Many think that the end of this account said, ‘But you saved the best for last.’ But that’s not what God’s Word says. It says 10b ‘But you have kept the good wine until now.’
No matter who He interacted with, no matter what He was doing, Jesus was always present in the moment. He was fully present, He lived with undivided attention in the moment. – An undivided heart. Let’s look at two accounts in Scripture that illustrate the heart of Jesus for the people right in front of Him, being fully engaged in the moment.
Luke 18:35-43 Bartimaeus cries out 38 ‘Jesus, son of David. “Have mercy on me.’ And the disciples were offended.
Jesus doesn’t have time for this man, Jesus is going somewhere. Jesus is too important, Jesus is too busy, Jesus has an agenda. Jesus isn’t going stop for some guy who’s begging on the side of the road and the disciples rebuked the blind beggar and said go away. But then Jesus rebuked His disciples and instead engaged with a single hurting person, fully engaged in the moment and Jesus stopped, gave Him all of His attention and said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ 41 Jesus stopped for a man that no one had time for. had been cancelled by society. Unseen and greater part unheard until this moment. Jesus fully engaged with the person in front of Him.
The next account, the consecutive story. We see in Luke 19:1-10. It mentions Jericho again. But this time Luke tells us that Jesus was actually going somewhere. So He was moving through 1&2, He had somewhere to be. He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
Notice, Jesus had already been interrupted a poor, blind beggar. Now He’s interrupted by a rich, corrupt tax collector. Jesus has time for the down and out and He’s got time for the up and in’s. He’s got time for anyone and a heart for anyone. It doesn’t matter where we come from, how bad our baggage is, how dirty it is, how rich or we are, Jesus cares about and has time for us. And Jesus stops for this man named Zacchaeus. Jesus sees Him and He calls him by name.
We have an enemy who knows our name but calls us by our sin. Praise God we have a saviour who knows our sin but calls us by name.
Zacchaeus under the conviction of Holy Spirit has this moment of deep repentance in the presence of the Son of God and say: ‘Lord, I’ll give away half my income to the poor and if have cheated, I’ll pay four times the damages.’ v.8 What’s Jesus response v.9 ‘Today. Right here, right now ‘In this moment, , “salvation has come to this house.’
Jesus with an undivided heart in the moment He stops and gives people one of the greatest gifts He can give, His attention, compassion and love. Jesus is always fully present in the moment and I want be like that but unfortunately, I know I’m not. Like Jesus we should want to be present where our feet are, present in all the moments.
The top two games our minds play. First is the ‘When, Then Game…’
When things are different then… And so many of us, we are literally going through life wishing away the current moment. Wishing away what you have right in front of us. Don’t miss what you have now pursuing what you want later. Jesus was fully engaged in the moment.
The second game our minds play is ‘What If Game..’. Projecting into the future. What if this happens? You might do that, what if I don’t pass this test? hat if I don’t get into a good college? Then what if I don’t get a good job? What if I don’t have enough finance, what if they don’t like me. What if I mess up?…But Jesus said this in Matthew 6:34. Jesus said, ‘Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’
Jesus does not tell us to not to plan for the future but tells us don’t worry about the future.
The only way we can be present in the moment is to actually surrender the past you can’t change and trust God with a future that you can’t control.
Hourglass Illustration –
No one knows how much sand is on the top. You think you do but there’s a lot of people who thought there was a lot more than there really is.
The second thing is no matter what you do, you can’t stop the sand from flowing. Time is passing, every day is a gift from God. Today is a gift from God and some of you are wishing it away.
The third thing is once the sand is at the bottom, you can never get it back.
The most important moment of our life. We could say is experiencing God right here, right now.
This is what David said in Psalm 118:24. I, ‘This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it’ We have got today, this is the day. And because this is God’s day, can be glad and rejoice in it. You can’t be happy where you’re not. And you can’t serve Jesus where you’re not. And you can’t love people the way Jesus did where you’re not.
This is the day the Lord has made. The most important moment is right here, right now, the most important person is the one right in front of you.
This is the day the Lord has made and when we look at the way Jesus lived, not just the truth He taught but the way He lived.
People weren’t interruptions or inconveniences. They were moments and opportunities to engage and show the goodness and the love of Father God.
Knowing that tomorrow is not a given, that Jesus is right here, right now that you can experience God. Your best moment, the best wine can be right now.