Thursday, September 11th, 2014
THE MELODY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT I
What is this melody of the Holy Spirit? It’s all His gifts within the spirits of believers – wisdom, guidance, comfort, and His abiding influence. It’s what is within me that is of God. There is also within me what is of me – self-seeking, self-righteousness, self-indulgence, and a perverse inclination to do things my way.
Unless I tune my inner radio to His music, I am focused more on myself than on God, what I call more-of-me. When I tune into the melody of the Holy Spirit, I am focused less on myself than on God, what I call more-of-God. It’s a spectrum from one end to the other. And it’s not a one-time thing: there can be more-of-God in the morning and more-of-me in the afternoon.
In the second chapter of John, Jesus turns six stone water jars into wine. In the fifth chapter of Ephesians, Paul tells us not to be drunk on wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit. With these two passages in mind, I offer the following metaphor: the Holy Spirit is the wine and my spirit is a stone jar. Unless He is poured from my spirit into my everyday life, I am filled with myself. But it’s a matter of degree. How much Spirit do I allow into my life? Do I drink freely or do I sip. God is not pleased with a sipper.