Fully Filled

 

Boy howdy, it sure has been hot lately!  I am so thankful that my uncle repaired the air conditioner in my truck.  Two summers ago, the a/c unit in my 1998 GMC Sierra gave up the ghost, and to save money I chose to roll down the windows and tough it out.  The upside was that the breeze blowing through the cab saved on my wife’s salon bill as well.  Every time Emily stepped out of the truck, she had a fresh do! 

Despite my kiddo’s complaints; the sweaty armpits; and the coarse, dry eyes, I decided that I could live without the modern-day convenience of bought air.  Then, while we were planning for the big move to Charleston, my uncle called me and asked if he could use my truck to pull his twenty-four foot boxed-in trailer.  In response, I told him that he might want to drive early in the morning or late in the evening because my air conditioner was on the fritz.  He was ok with that, so we made plans to transport the truck to his house, so that he could connect it to his trailer and have it ready for the upcoming moving day.  When my uncle showed up with the truck and trailer, he motioned me to the driver’s side window.  Then, he rolled down the glass, and frigid air passed before my face.  Uncle Craig had replaced a rotten hose and filled the unit with Freon. 

I don’t claim to know a lot about cars, but I do know that an air conditioner is designed to be full of Freon, and when the system is empty, it doesn’t cool the car at all.  That means, without the presence of Freon, the machine doesn’t work properly.  Human bodies and cars are vastly different, but like an a/c unit, God designed the human body to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Folks without the Holy Spirit don’t function right.

The Apostle Paul wrote about the work of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18.  Paul wrote, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”  This verse is often misinterpreted.  I don’t believe that you can receive more or less of the Spirit of God; however, I do believe that the Spirit can have more or less control of you.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, God’s Holy Spirit is united with our soul forever.  The Greek word translated as “filled” in this text could be better translated as “controlled”.  So let me “Artie this up” for you a little bit.  Paul is teaching that we should not be controlled by anything of this world.  Instead, we should be controlled by the Spirit of God.  Folks, a body that does not have the Holy Spirt is not going to function properly.  To be used for its Creator’s purpose, it must be controlled by the Creator’s Spirit.