As for me, Sometimes I feel like my wineskin needs to be replaced with a new one just about every day! I need new mercy, fresh grace, a second (or eighty-second) chance, and novel ideas all of the time. And when I allow my container, or the receptacle of my heart to be renewed by Him often, I definitely find that my actions, attitudes, and thoughts are experiencing revival too.

Another thought I had about new wineskins was actually about new believers, or actually pre-believers. If you think back to when you first became a follower of Christ, can you pinpoint some period of time before your decision when God was giving you a new wineskin, so that when you accepted Him, He could actually fill you without ruining you? And perhaps you can observe the same wineskin renewal process in the lives of outsiders around you, maybe even those to whom you are witnessing. Sometimes I call it "plowing up the soil of a heart to make it ready for the seed" or "drawing a heart by His lovingkindness." I've found recently that these are some of my most common prayers, because this process is one of which I'm extremely aware as I share my faith. So much of this wineskin changing/heart soil plowing/heart wooing is performed by God, but I wonder if Christ followers have a part in it too. Be it in the way we conduct our lives, the way we portray a favorable image of Christ, or simply the way we love and pray for the lost, we can work with Him if we choose.