“’Fill the jars with water,’ Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim… Jesus performed this first sign in Cana of Galilee. He displayed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:7, 11 HCSB

His Thoughts

When I stand in a grove of old-growth redwoods, I look up to the tops in awe. I love to stand right beside one of these giants. It makes me feel my proper smallness in relation to an unlimited God. The roots always form a small hill that must be climbed in order to stand close to the tree; when I stand there, I am already several feet above the level ground—but I still feel miniscule. Breathe deeply; look around. God made this. A right sense of my smallness and God’s greatness helps me appreciate all He has done.

We have read the miracles of Jesus so many times, we sometimes miss what He is revealing of Himself. In the familiar miracle of Him changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana (Jesus’ first recorded miracle), something revealing about Him has always passed me by. My usual response to a miracle is a simplistic remembrance that He can do anything. This is good to know, of course.

But there is something deeper. At His command, the servants filled the water pots to the brim with water—a simple molecular compound. Altogether, the pots held about 125 gallons. Suddenly, the water was not water, but fine wine—an extremely complex molecular compound.

As far as Scripture records, Jesus did not dip His finger in the water and swirl it. He did not speak to the water. He did not pray over it. He did not raise His hands to heaven and give the Father a knowing look. He certainly did not do some sort of dance, as the prophets of Baal did when they attempted to conjure fire.

He just thought it. His own private thoughts instantly created. He has the ability to do this because, well, He is the Creator.

When God says that His thoughts towards us are more than can be counted, sit up and take notice. These are the miracle-producing private thoughts of the Creator, and we can be sure that He is creating (“causing to come into being”) a complex, satisfying, soul-transforming life for us, out of the smallness and simplicity that we offer Him.

“Jesus, Creator of all things, create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us. This is not hard for You, no matter how simple we are, or how we’ve messed up what You began in us. You are so good! Amen.”