Day 32 - Forgetting Where We Started

The Holy Spirit convicts people of their sins.

Have you watched any of the episodes of the new TV show called Undercover Boss? Each episode features a senior executive at a major corporation, working incognito as a new entry-level hire in his or her company for week. Their mission is to find out how the company really works…and identify some of the unsung heroes among their employees. In a couple of the episodes, the “undercover boss” recognized how far away from its origins—in both concept and practice—the business has come. When the bosses have revealed themselves, several have admitted their disappointment with the changes.

In Galatians 3:1-14, Paul takes the Galatian Christians to task for seemingly “forgetting” that their spiritual growth came from the Spirit, rather than their own efforts. He had to remind them that they began their Christian lives in the power of the Holy Spirit; therefore, they needed to grow by the Spirit. Their insistence on keeping the Jewish laws had actually caused them to take steps backward in their faith development.

The Galatians knew that they had received the power of the Holy Spirit when they believed...not when they obeyed the law. I guess they felt that faith alone was just too easy and that they needed to follow some rules. Paul actually confronts them with the question, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort” (3:3). We have fallen into that snare ourselves from time to time, haven’t we? People still try to get closer to God by following rules. And while following some spiritual disciplines and performing acts of service may help us grow spiritually, we must not let them take the place of the Holy Spirit within us or let them become the only thing we do to develop our faith.

The Holy Spirit gives us great power to live for God. Isn’t that enough for us? Often, we get bored or discouraged whenever we feel like we’ve gotten into a rut. But the Spirit uses those times to give us the gift of persistence, if we’ll pay attention to it.

When a sail catches the wind, there is great power. When there is no wind, or when the boat is not positioned to run with the wind, it is easy to become discouraged. But experienced sailors, who have developed persistence, have learned to stay focused and active in positioning until they can catch the wind again.

Have you forgotten lately that your spiritual growth comes from the Holy Spirit?

What can you change in the way you are living your faith so that you can catch the wind of the Spirit?