The Sommelier and the Child at the Wedding

At a vineyard wedding in Napa Valley in 2019, master sommelier Carlton McCoy was explaining the wine to guests — describing notes of blackcurrant, cedar, and volcanic minerite, layering each sip with decades of training and vocabulary most people couldn't follow. A few guests nodded politely. Most reached for their glasses and simply drank.

Meanwhile, at the next table, a seven-year-old flower girl took a sip of sparkling cider from a champagne flute, closed her eyes, and whispered to her grandmother, "It tastes like a celebration."

She couldn't parse tannins or terroir. She had no credentials. But she understood exactly what was in front of her.

Paul told the Corinthians that he didn't come with superior wisdom or persuasive words. He came trembling, dependent entirely on the Spirit's power. Because the deepest truths of God aren't unlocked by intellectual sophistication — they're revealed. The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God, and freely gives understanding to those who receive it.

Human wisdom can describe God the way a sommelier describes wine — technically, impressively, at a distance. But the Spirit does something else entirely. The Spirit lets you taste it. The Almighty doesn't hide His wisdom behind academic gates. He pours it out for anyone willing to receive it with open hands and a humble heart — the way a child receives a gift she didn't earn and couldn't explain, but knows is good.