Jesus used the idea of drinking from a cup as a type of having an experience as He did when responding to the request to have the chief seats in the eternal kingdom made by the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Mark 10:38 records, "But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink'...?"
There are cups to drink -life changing experiences to have. Psalm 116:23 says, " I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord". Taking up the cup of salvation speaks of one practical way to experience salvation. You drink it! Jesus Himself used the idea of drinking as a way to experience the life of God. He said; "If any man is thirsty let him come unto Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive..." (John 7:37-39).
Living water is like a spiritual wine, and something any thirsty person can obtain from Jesus. Outside witnesses concluded that the recipients of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost were drunk. They weren't but had partaken of what Jesus had promised. Peter determined that those who were acting drunk were under the influence of the Holy Spirit...'these are not drunk as you suppose...but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel...I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh..." (Acts 2:15-17).
Where does this leave you. It is time for you to drink. Psalm 23:5 tells us that our cup runs over. Drink from the cup the Lord has provided. He will fill you, intoxicate you, and change you.
This is an excellent post to start the year, Robin. It's an invitation to experience all he has for us. I recall John Arnott's observation that you can't drink and talk at the same time--it's about receiving.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jesus responded the way He did to the mother of the "Sons of Thunder", what was in the cup of which He referred?
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