Day 16: That we would be filled with the Spirit
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18 ESV)
If the Holy Spirit decided to abandon your church what programs and ministries would be shut down? I can’t remember where I first heard that question but it has stuck with me. I’d like to say that we’d have to shut down everything—but truth be told, there might be some things we do as a church which could go on mostly unchanged. This should not be so.
There is much which could be said about Ephesians 5:18 and the concept of being filled with the Spirit, I simply want to draw your attention to two things from this verse. First, you do not get drunk on wine by merely having a sip or dabbling in wine. You get drunk by drinking a few glasses. In the same way churches should not be content with merely sipping on the Spirit. We should not be content until he has the whole of us.
Secondly, to be filled with the Spirit essentially means to be pressured, permeated, and dominated by the Spirit (from here). For a church to be filled with (or by) the Spirit we’d absolutely know the answer to the question I opened with. If we are to do anything of lasting value as a church it will be through the work of the Spirit.
Father, we thank you for the gift of your Spirit. We thank you that you’ve taken up residence in our lives and that you are absolutely dedicated to seeing us fully redeemed. We pray Lord that you’d create in us a hunger which can only be satisfied by You. Fill us with your Spirit. May the peace of Christ rule every sector of our hearts. This is your church. Fill it up with Yourself. Amen.
