“Wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts” (Psalm 104:15).
PROMISED LAND (Pt 3)
The Lord Jesus is the true vine from which comes the wine that gladdens our hearts.
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).
Expensive intoxicating fermented “vino” that leads men and women into a state of reckless indiscretion is not what the Holy Spirit leads us into, but the wine that comes from the true vine is free for us all to drink. Jesus did not charge for the water he turned into wine; it was free for all wedding guests. For the blood of Christ is free for each one of us. It’s true wine. “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (John 6:55).
The rich wine that comes from the “true vine” gladdens the hearts of those who drink it. The bread that comes from heaven sustains our hearts. And oil that makes our face shine is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which each one of us can receive.
Water comes to us from the heavens, and the earth produces vines from which men collect the grapes crush them and store the juice. But it started as water from heaven, similar to Christ who came from heaven, he shed his precious blood on the earth. “he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:5).
When the children of Israel sent twelve spies out into the promised land they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them. The promised land is truly full of promise.
We see the story that God is telling us, the promised land has wine that will gladden the heart of man. We desperately need the life-giving properties of real drink. The promised land is where we can partake of true food and drink.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53). This is the food we need, and the wine that we celebrate with: “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Hab 3:18).
This is the heritage of those who live in the “promised land”.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!. Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods” (Isa 55:1–2).