Sailing With The Spirit

[image error] Andrew Wilson asks; “How can we obey a passive verb?” ‘Be filled with the Spirit’ (Eph. 5:18). That is like saying, ‘Be phoned by your mother.’

He goes on to comment that the Spirit is the dynamic that energizes the Christian life. We often understand this in terms of filling a glass with water…but how to we keep, “be you, being filled,”(the Greek meaning)? Does the glass leak or what?

He helpfully points out that since the word for Spirit is breath or wind, thinking in terms of a sailboat is helpful. He asks if this filling is an experience or a habit and comments that it’s a bit of both.

I find this image helpful in thinking in terms of the acts that a sailor takes to see that the sail is raised and turned to the wind. Without the wind, the sailboat goes nowhere. But by raising the sail, turning the boat in the direction to catch the wind, and then steering, it moves ahead.

[image error]So, we should develop the habits that move the Holy Spirit, who already dwells within us as believers, to propel us onward in the faith. Lift the sail of forgiving others all the time, spend time every day and throughout the day in prayer, expose ourselves daily to the liberating content of Scripture, enjoy the fellowship of believers, and so on. Spirit of life, we lift our sail to you, propel us onward to mature holiness. (Article, Sailing with the Spirit, Cty Today, July/August 2019)

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