Becoming Vessels for New Wine

Scripture Reading: “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.” – Luke 5:37–38 (NIV)

Devotional 

In this passage, Jesus uses a powerful image from His listeners’ daily lives. Wine was often stored in animal skins that stretched as the wine fermented. An old wineskin, brittle and hardened with age, would tear apart if filled with fresh, fermenting wine. For new wine, a flexible and renewed vessel was required.

Spiritually, Jesus was showing that the new covenant of grace and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit could not be contained in the rigid systems of the old covenant. The Pharisees held tightly to traditions, fasting rituals, and religious structures, but Jesus brought transformation, not just reform. His message required hearts that were open, renewed, and ready to be stretched by the move of God.

Today, the lesson still applies. God is always doing something new (Isaiah 43:19). But if we are locked into old patterns of sin, stale religious routines, or unrenewed mindsets, we may resist or even reject what He is pouring out. To receive the fullness of His Spirit, we must allow Him to renew our hearts and make us flexible vessels.

Application

• Personal Renewal: Ask yourself: Am I a vessel God can use? Or am I holding onto attitudes, bitterness, or habits that keep me rigid? Renewal begins with repentance and openness to God’s Spirit.
• Flexibility in Faith: God often stretches us into new callings, ministries, or ways of seeing Him. Instead of clinging to the familiar, embrace the stretching as preparation for His “new wine.”
• Living by the Spirit: The “new wine” also represents the Spirit-filled life (Acts 2:13–18). Being a vessel means yielding daily to the Spirit’s leading in prayer, service, and obedience.

Prayer

Lord, make me a new wineskin, ready for the outpouring of Your Spirit. Break every old pattern in me that resists Your will. Stretch me, renew me, and fill me with the new wine of Your presence. May my life overflow with Your power and joy, bringing glory to You and blessing to others. Amen.

Supporting Scriptures

• Isaiah 43:19 – “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
• Ezekiel 36:26 – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
• Romans 12:2 – “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
• Acts 2:17 – “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”