“Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” ~Romans 8:2
A garden soaker hose is only good if it's attached to the spigot. It’s designed to receive water but has to be connected to the water source. The same is true of our connection to God and his Holy Spirit. God wants us to receive his Spirit’s life and power, but for so long, we’ve lived out of our own strength and championed our own spiritual effort. It takes reordering to slow down and attach to the Spirit’s life source within us.
This Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost, which historically is the day God poured out his Holy Spirit on the Church. Peter and the apostles were overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit: prophesying and speaking in tongues. It was a beautiful reversal of humanity’s curse at the Tower of Babel, where we were united in our man-centric egos. At Pentecost, God united us in the pure language of his Spirit and restored our true humanity.
The Apostle Paul taught that we’ve been given a new “Law of the Spirit.” The old inertia of sin and self-interest is crucified with Christ and buried in the grave of baptism. We are liberated from the bondage of self-obsession and the legal structure that regulates sinful appetites. Jesus turned on an entirely new set of appetites and a new power center that we can now live out of. We have the spring of "Spirit life" flowing within us. His abundant life defies all the hoarding and calcified habits of dying nature. That old nature still lives out of the stagnant cistern contaminated by guilt, anxiety, vanity, and greed.
The Holy Spirit did more than inaugurate a new era in history. The Spirit is a new reality we choose to live in daily. We can hook up to his spigot and allow his life to flow through us. Galatians 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” The Bible calls the law of the Spirit a new law, or new force, operating within you. The law of the Spirit is more than a legal structure that punishes you when you step out of the field of play. He is a propelling personality that sends you in the right direction.
This Pentecost, I’m inviting us to consider again what precious resources we have in the Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth and wisdom where we have been confused and ignorant. He is the Spirit of holiness that defies the gravity of the sin-nature. He is the Spirit that gives us intimate friendship with God where we used to be lonely, depleted, and joyless. The flesh can’t conjure these things up; only the Spirit can spring up with new life. He is the Spirit that gives us a whole new power source of joy, love, and peace. The key is to slow down and learn how to live out of his life—learn to “keep in step with the Spirit.” Blessings as you learn to rely on his leadership. Believe me, it's well worth it.
Tags: trust, power, life, holy spirit, walk, new life, spring, force, rely, life source
