Understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 5:17–18)
A half-full coffee cup can mean you have a neglectful server or that you have been quickly downing the contents. At any rate, it signals that a refill is needed. Every coffee drinker loves the attentive waiter or waitress who seems always near with the coffee pot asking, “Would you like a warm-up?” A cup filled to the brim makes the coffee heart happy.
God’s will for us is to be totally filled with his Spirit, soul and body. The human vessel will find something with which to be consumed—career, pleasure, sex, drugs, alcohol, family, or God. We are made for something. We cannot be empty.
Yet, we are not to be intoxicated with or under the control of anything other than the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is both a momentary and an ongoing filling.
There is a moment at the restaurant when my coffee cup is initially filled by the server. But, after that, there are ongoing refillings. There is also a moment when I realize that I need to surrender my spirit, mind, and body completely to the power of the Spirit, emptying my will and accepting his. And, subsequently, there are moments when again I am aware that my spiritual resources are being depleted, and I need a fresh infilling. This is life in the Spirit. It is the will of God.
Be totally filled; God wants to keep you full of his Spirit.
Valorie Quesenberry is a pastor’s wife and mom who lives in Indiana and likes to recharge with coffee and time with friends.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
