May 29, 2025 Devo

The first public miracle that Jesus performed was in John, chapter 2. It was where He turned water into wine. For the Jews, wine represented Joy. For them to run out of wine at a wedding would have been a huge embarrassment. So Jesus saved the day. He brought back the joy. It was a great opening statement for Jesus and actually one that signified why He had come in the first place. He said it this way later in John 10, “I have come that you might have life and have it MORE ABUNDANTLY.”
Jesus not only wants to forgive our sins, He also wants to fill our lives with joy. He wants us to THRIVE, not merely survive. He came to give our lives meaning, purpose, and power. He came to change the way we see this world around us and respond to it. He wants us to love life and live it with a vibrant joy.
But when we drift from God, that joy drifts with it. Have you noticed that? When we take our eyes off God, we start focusing on ourselves. We become self-centered and self-consumed. We lose sight of all we’ve been given and start focusing on what we don’t have. Our sense of gratitude is replaced by jealousy, envy, and self-pity. When we forget who we are as God’s children, our jobs become a drudgery, people become a burden, and church an obligation. It’s often a slow fade, so we don’t even realize what’s going on. But then one day we wake up, and there we are. The joy that once was is now gone. And we long to have it back.
If you can relate to this, then I want to encourage you to pray David’s prayer. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Ask God to fill your heart to overflowing again with His Love. Ask Him to help you lift your eyes from your problems, or take your eyes off of yourself, and fix them once again upon Him. Ask Him to fill your empty soul with the wine of His Holy Spirit and help you to soar again. Jesus wants you to do more than just live. He wants your life to be abundant, meaningful, and full of joy. May God restore that joy to YOU! That’s God’s Word for you today.