There can be a lot of waste in some western countries. Instead of the old principle of 'make do and mend' (making the best of what you have got and mending anything which is broken), advertisers encourage us to buy new products. Sometimes that is a good policy: new tools may be safer to use, and new fabrics more easy to launder. But in general, it is cheaper to mend whatever is broken or torn.

However, mending old cloth with new material will only make the defect worse. The new fabric will be stronger than the old and will tear it more when the material is pulled. In a different illustration, Jesus said that new wine would easily burst an old wineskin, because old leather wine flasks became hard and brittle after one season.

These were riddles which the trainee apostles would later understand. They both pointed to the same truth: new life from God through Jesus needs to be put into a new heart. Jesus was not content to patch up a broken religious system or to pour His Holy Spirit into a failed legal structure. He wanted people renewed by the truth and eager for a whole new life. And that is exactly what happens when people believe in Jesus: they experience the power of God in a submissive and serving heart.

And yet so many people still misunderstand what faith in Christ is all about. They think it is about trying hard to be good, and following religious rules. Instead it is about allowing the explosive power of God's love to invade a sinner's heart. It is not about patching up a poor pattern of behaviour, but becoming a new creation. God gives His Holy Spirit to sinners who are weary of rebellion, and who confess their need for cleansing and renewal. Faith in Jesus is not about what we can do for God, but welcoming what he has done for us. Live that life today, and as you advertise the power of the risen Saviour, be ready to answer people's questions (1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 3:15).