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Familiar with the Bible or not, you've likely heard the story of Jesus turning water into wine (John chapter 2).

If not, here's the summary: Jesus and his disciples attend a wedding, where a social offense has occurred: they've run out of wine.

When it came to finding a solution, nobody was going to restrain Jesus’ mama. Mary knew that if anyone could do anything, it was her boy. She had an inside track on who he was and what he could do. From the time she discovered she was pregnant with him, she had word from God himself on who her child was: God himself.

So naturally, she finds Jesus, and they have a brief exchange: "They have no more wine." His response: "Why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come."

She didn’t even answer. She knew her son. She knew he was both capable and willing to do something. Instead of arguing, she turned to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.” Off she went.

You know what comes next: he tells the servants to fill up 6 nearby jars used for cleansing with the only resource they had: Water. Plain, ordinary, everyday…water.

Moments later, it's not just wine that's flowing again; it's the best wine. It's tempting to dismiss it. Of course the miracle occurred; it's Jesus. What does that have to do with us?

Buried within the details is a reminder for all of us.

The most powerful position to be in is that of servant

Some people have an inside track in life, but it's not who you think. John tells us:

...and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. (John 2:9)

Did you catch that detail? The master of the banquet didn't know the source of the wine, but the servants knew.

When was the last time you encountered a servant?

A waiter or waitress. A janitor. A delivery driver. The list goes on and on. It's easy to overlook the various people that serve us, but right here John reminds us it's the servants who gained extraordinary perspective.

Servants know three things:

1) The importance of ordinary tasks - We love the extraordinary days, but there are many days in which you carry out the ordinary: dishes, laundry, the lawn. It’s like when you think about water. Plain, ordinary, everyday…water.

But when God tells you to do it, there’s something not-so-ordinary about it.

2) When done for Jesus, there are no ordinary tasks - If ever you find yourself forgetting his extraordinary work, you have only to remember where he started on that wedding day in Cana: at the place of peoples’ cleansing --- with those 6 jars.

But now today we live on this side of the cross. His extraordinary work happened at the place of our cleansing: the cross. Daily take the time individually and together to return to that reminder.

The third thing servants know is rooted in the response of the master of the banquet:

“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

3) Servants know is that God’s ways and timing happen in such a way that He bestows His best yet in an ongoing manner. It makes it possible to look forward to each and every service opportunity. There will be the experience that it just gets better and better, because that’s the nature of what Jesus is up to in our world.

Would you like a whole new perspective today? Seek someone out and ask the question a servant asks: "What do you need?"

It'll be like you gave them a glass of the finest wine.

Until next week,

Nathan