Neos...like never before

After months of preparation the day finally arrived.

Perfectly starched napkins, the finest Jewish cuisine, the best musical band in the region of Cana… As they welcomed their guests to their wedding banquet they ran the checklist through their minds. Of course, how could they forget about the wine? Old Jacob, the local connoisseur gave them a good deal on the best wine in his cellar… several gallons for their big day.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mary. She was responsible for Hannah, the bride’s exquisite wedding gown. Mary was accompanied by her son, a quiet young man. She introduced him to the bride and groom. “Jesus… his name is Jesus,” she said.

Cutlery beating rhythmically on plates, beautifully dressed Jewish folk chatting merrily about their bountiful harvest, melodious music setting the mood for a picture-perfect wedding… There was however something strangely different about this wedding banquet.

Mary stood within earshot from the wedding planner when the waiter broke the dreadful news to her. Not even two hours into the wedding banquet and they had a major crisis… they’d run out of wine. Mary and the bride’s mother had been friends since childhood. She thought of the humiliation, the embarrassment… the wagging tongues gathering in the town square talking about the fact that they had run out of wine. She whispered something in the ear of Jesus. He rose from His seat and ventured towards the kitchen, Mary following shortly behind Him. Before He could utter a word to anyone, Mary instructed the waiters to do exactly as He told them.

They filled every water pitcher and clay vessel they could find. Yes, He told them to fill it with water. Ehud, one of the waiters, thought this was absurd. Yet, there was something about this cool, calm and sophisticated looking yet simple man that gripped his attention. “Now go and serve the guests,” he said.

Neos, means “like never before.” The conventional way of wine-making dictates that good wine is distilled and cellared over time. Never before has such matured, dark-ruby, purple rimmed wine with richly flavoured nose of concentrated mouth-filling fruit been produced in this way… Neos, like never before… and now the guests were really talking. This was not common practice at any wedding banquet. The good wine is normally served first, yet they actually kept the best wine for last.

YOU are standing on the threshold of a new beginning. YOUR one foot standing firmly in the yesteryear of yesterday and the other in 2008, the year of Neos, like never before. Before you can take hold of the finest tasting wine served from the Master’s goblet you need to remove your foot from the mundane year of man and place it firmly in the place called “like never before.” It is from that place that healing flows into the decaying bones of infirmity. It renders hope to the person masking a torrid life of emotional pain. From it flows a fountain flooding a masonic heart of bitterness… it is within reach of the Master’s hand changing the negative cycle of a barren womb. It has promising benefits for the reshaping of a marriage once seen as going nowhere slowly. Broken dreams are reconstructed into an academy of brilliance never experienced on the face of earth ever before.

YOUR Neos moment is knocking at your door. God is challenging you to a life where you are free to grow… on His terms, far removed from where you are in control. YOUR Neos moment beckons you to seize from pushing your way… He only requires you to allow Him to do it His way… like never before.