Chosen to Be a Miracle! Advent Plan Based on “The Chosen"عينة

Day 7: I will show you a new way to count... 

I had been in the wine business for years, specifically in the organization of large events such as weddings. My specialty was counting, measuring, and checking that everything was perfect for the occasion. 

As you may know, in Jewish culture, and especially at weddings, wine is an essential element, so we couldn't afford any mistakes. The number of guests, the amount each would drink, the different qualities of wine...I always had all the variables in mind. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I would say that I was one of the best in my trade!

However, this wedding in Cana of Galilee was different. The groom's parents didn't have a lot of money, so my first estimates were conservative. What we didn't expect was that the wedding would eventually have almost 25% more people than expected! That broke my calculations completely.

Only a few hours into the celebration, we ran out of wine. We didn't know what to do! Seeing our desperation, a friend of the hostess introduced us to Jesus and told us to do whatever He told us to do (John 2:5-11, NKJV).

Jesus asked us to fill the purification jars with water. It didn't make any sense; it seemed, in fact, to be a stupid idea that would cause us to waste even more time. But we had no other choice, so we did as He told us.

There was something special about the way He spoke...with truly comforting assurance. At one point in the conversation, He called me by name, saying, "Thomas, join Me, and I will show you a new way to count and measure. A different way of seeing time."

Nothing made sense, but what happened right after that made even less sense: Jesus turned the water in the jars into wine. If I hadn't been there, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. And it wasn't just any wine: it was the best wine I had ever tasted.

Jesus performed a miracle that saved that wedding from catastrophe. But for me, it was also the moment He called me to follow Him. He knew that it would take no less than a miracle to convince me to go with Him! And it certainly was fruitful.

My life is not the same since I started following Him. Now, I look for and depend on God's miracles in my daily life.

My name is Thomas, and I have been chosen by Jesus.

P.S. Dear friend, perhaps you, too, like Thomas, feel caught between a rock and a hard place, in a situation that has no visible solution, but I want to invite you to look beyond your human limitations, to see them through the eyes of faith. God's math is so much better than ours! Give Him your problems, and let Him fill you with His peace and blessings this Christmas season.

You are Chosen to be a Miracle!
Christian Misch