Water splashed over the rim of twelve stone jars, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. What had been empty now overflowed with the finest wine anyone at the wedding had tasted. And it all began because they ran out.
In John 2, we witness Jesus' first miracle at a wedding in Cana. The celebration had hit a crisis point—the wine was gone, an embarrassment for the hosts and a premature end to the festivities.
"Fill the jars with water," Jesus instructed the servants. And they did—to the brim. Not halfway. Not mostly full. To the very top.
Jesus didn't just solve the problem with the minimum required. He didn't produce just enough wine to finish the celebration. He created abundance—gallons upon gallons of wine finer than what had been served at the beginning.
That's the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mentality. Scarcity sees limits, constraints, "not enough." Abundance sees possibility, provision, "more than we need."
I've caught myself living from scarcity too often—carefully guarding my time, my resources, my heart—as if generosity might leave me empty. I hold back from giving freely, from loving fully, from serving generously because I fear running dry.
Yet Jesus tells us in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Not barely getting by. Not just surviving. Abundance.
This abundance isn't about material wealth. It's about recognizing that when we live connected to the true Source, we never run dry. It's understanding that God's economy works differently than ours—the more we give from His supply, the more seems to be available.
Think about the widow who fed Elijah with her last handful of flour and drop of oil. By the world's logic, she should have saved it for herself and her son. Instead, she gave first—and discovered that her jar of flour was not used up and her jug of oil did not run dry.
Living from abundance means approaching life with open hands rather than clenched fists. It means giving when logic says to keep, loving when hurt says to withdraw, hoping when experience says to doubt.
The servants at that wedding filled the jars to the brim with water—doing the small thing they could do—and then watched Jesus transform their obedience into overflowing blessing. That pattern repeats throughout Scripture and throughout our lives.
What would change if you began to live from God's abundance rather than the world's scarcity? How might your perspective shift? Your generosity grow? Your worry diminish?
The wedding at Cana reminds us that God doesn't just meet our needs—He exceeds them. He doesn't just fill the empty spaces—He overflows them. He doesn't just get us through—He gives us life abundant.
And that abundance begins not when we have everything we want, but when we recognize that in Him, we already have everything we need.