Our
worship services usually incorporate the use of candles as do most churches or
places of worship. These candles are not
lit to bring light to the people who have gathered. They are there to remind us of the presence
of the Holy Spirit.
The
flames we see on the candles are supposed to put us in mind of the Pentecost
story – an event that happened on the fiftieth day after Passover (thus, “Pentecost”). What was going on at first? What happened? How did the Holy Spirit appear? What was the result?
Up
until this moment we have been given the impression that the followers of Jesus
have been fairly timid in their faith.
After the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples twice as they hid
behind locked doors. In Acts 1:13 we see
that they have gone to the upper room where they have been staying.
The Day
of Pentecost begins with the believers being together in one place. We have no other details but the implication
is that these believers are again huddled in the upper room, a place of safety,
a place removed from the world. But the
Holy Spirit invades this space. There is
a powerful wind. There are flames. And suddenly these timid believers are filled
with the power of God and able to do incredible and miraculous work.
If we
will move forward in our faith we must be different than these early
believers. Rather than hide our faith
and ourselves from the trials and temptations of the world, we need to put
ourselves in the path of the Spirit. If
we will be moved forward by God, pushed along by His mighty wind, we must put
ourselves in the path of that wind and allow the Spirit to move us.
We may
not see literal flames appearing above our heads, but when we allow the Holy
Spirit to move within us we will feel the fire of God. We will feel that burning desire to serve the
Lord, that fire that lets us know we are not alone in our working. We are full of the power of God.
We cannot
spend our life of faith huddled together with other believers and think we are
doing God’s will. Neither can we remove
ourselves from the body of believers and think we are doing God’s will. We must position ourselves to be available to
the Lord. We must open our hearts and
souls to allow the Spirit to enter in, to fill us, and to move us out into the
world in life-changing work.
DAILY
CHALLENGE: How can you prepare yourself
to receive the Holy Spirit?
