Old Habits Die Hard

It has now been seven years since I left the church and its ministry. That has been more than sufficient time to reflect upon the disappointment of what once meant so much no longer being—at least for me—viable. I’m still fascinated, however, by the profound truth revealed in Scripture and its application to contemporary issues. Jesus reportedly told the parable of old and new wineskins, and how foolish it would be to put new wine into an old skin. We would do well to ponder the wisdom of this analogy as we prepare to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama. We have in Obama the new wine of change mandated by We the People, and it is the responsibility of us who elected him President to do our part by actively becoming a part of that change. No more politics as usual! That is the convenant between us and the one we chose to lead us. So let’s not fall down on our part of the bargain by returning to our old ways. We the People need to become the new wineskin for the new wine so that our audacity to hope may mature into genuine promise.