Spirit-filled Living

Spirit-filled Living

There's a fascinating verse in John chapter 3 that I used to find enigmatic.

Verse 8 (NIV) reads as follows:

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it's sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

In the King James, the first part is rendered, "... blows where it listeth...". That word "listeth" brings to mind a sailboat. I'm sure you've seen one sailing along. Carried along by the wind it is often tilted (listing) to one side or the other as the wind fills its sails.

This picture can help clarify the point Jesus is making here.

Wind fills the sails of a boat, and the boat moves. The sails do nothing. They simply hang there, held in place by the rigging. The boat does nothing. It is simply going with the flow of the wind.

Without the sails, the wind is simply an invisible force. Without the wind the sails are just lifeless canvas.

When the wind fills the sails, great voyages ensue. Whether through storms and huge waves or sunny blue skies and calm seas, the boat moves along, or rests in the doldrums, as the wind blows loudly, freshens sweetly, or pauses in quietness.

So it is with you, Spirit-born child of God.

Interestingly, "Spirit" in Greek is "pneuma".

You may know the English word "pneumatic." A pneumatic tire is filled with air. A pneumatic tool operates using compressed air. It is also used in scripture of a breath, or wind.

I think perhaps that's why Jesus chose this particular way of explaining the coming relationship between God and humankind.

God's Spirit (pneuma, breath) fills you and enlivens (quickens) your mortal body. This causes you to manifest, or make visible, the Spirit. Not by any activity of your own. You simply rest and allow the Spirit to push you along. Others see this and begin to understand that you are acting by the power of a power outside yourself.

That power, that breath, that wind, is Holy Spirit himself. It is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus. He is a freshening breeze that carries a clean and clear aroma to those around you.

That's the way of grace. You rest, comfortably trusting in and dependent upon Him while He is manifested through you.