Do You Luff God?
Do you ever feel like you are stagnant in your Christian life? That you are not bearing fruit? You no longer feel close to God? You are not experiencing peace and joy? Or maybe even that God has left you? I have felt all of these in my 40+ years walking with the Lord. During these times I would ask myself, then ask the Lord, "why do I feel this way?" Usually, I would quickly realize something was off with me, sort of along the lines of "if you don't feel close to God, guess who moved?" So I would pray, "Father, I want to drawn near to You. Help me see and put aside every sin in my life. To humbly receive Your Word and abide by it." (James 1:21,22,25; 4:18) That seemed to get me back on track but it wasn't until recently that I could see, and fully realize, what exactly was going on. That is what I would like to share with you. What God gave me was a new understanding of one of the most familiar verses in the Bible: 'And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit' - Eph 5:18. I know you were probably hoping for something more profound but hang with me here.
If you are like me you have known this verse for a long time. You also know that it is fundamental to living the Christian life. You also know deep down that this is what you need and what you ultimately desire. Also, like me, you have been somewhat confused by what it really means and even more so, how to do it. Sort of like if someone told you, "be filled with happiness today, or be filled with hope, or be filled with lunch." You would say, "yes, thank you very much." Then you would think, "what do they mean? That happiness/hope/lunch will come my way? That I should do certain things that make happiness/hope/lunch come my way? That they didn't mean that I should do anything at all and it was just a nice sentiment?" So, what did Paul really mean by this?
I am not a Theologian so I need to first borrow some wisdom from Andrew Wilson. "In the biblical languages, there is just one word for Spirit, breath, and wind (ruach in Hebrew, pneuma in Paul’s Greek). But in English, we have three different words: breath (from the Old English braet, meaning scent), spirit (from the Latin spiritus, meaning spirit or breath), and wind (from the German wind). So we don’t necessarily see a connection between being filled with the Spirit, filled with breath, and filled with wind. In fact, many of us probably think of being “filled with the Spirit” in terms of liquid, like a glass being filled with water, which raises various questions. (Why aren’t we full already? Do we leak? Can the Spirit be spilled?)
But Paul’s original wording—“be filled with the Spirit/breath/wind”—would make people think of being filled with air. It might call to mind a pipe or a trumpet, which can only fulfill its purpose when it is “filled with the breath.” Or, even better, you might think of a sailboat, which requires a power beyond itself (the wind) to go anywhere. Paul is using a dynamic image, not a static one. A glass of water only needs filling once; a sailboat won’t be useful without continual filling."
If we start with this and then applying it to anything driven by air we will begin to undertsatnd what Paul meant. Let's choose sailing. Most everyone knows that sailing is both a great science and art of making sure your sails are always full of air. There is always a best use of the boats orientation and the sails to move forward. To this end, two terms are used continuously- luffing and tell-tales. Bear with me again and read the sailing definitions of these terms:
"In sailing, luffing refers to when a sailing vessel is steered far enough toward the direction of the wind ("windward"), or the sheet controlling a sail is eased so far past optimal trim, that airflow over the surfaces of the sail is disrupted and the sail begins to "flap" or "luff" (the luff of the sail is usually where this first becomes evident). This is not always done in error; for example, the sails will luff when the bow of the boat passes through the direction of the wind as the sailboat is tacked.
Luff telltales show what is happening with the wind as it goes over the luff of the sail. Instead of waiting for the sail to luff and slow you down, using the telltales allows you to correct the sail trim before the sail flaps."
Do you see where I am going now? Another way of understanding what Paul is saying is "Always be like a good sailor that orient's his boat and sails to get the optimum power from the wind. Be on the alert always to avoid, and to address, any luffing of it's sails. Meaning, orient your life, your heart, emotions and will so that you are always being driven fully by the Holy Spirit. Always watch your tell-tales and pray for God to keep you from luffing, in your moment by moment voyage with Him."
*** Next post I will speak to what luffing and the tell-tales look like in your daily walk with God. And, then, speak to tangible ways to orient our boat and sails to maximize the winds (Spirit) effect on our lives.
Do you ever feel like you are stagnant in your Christian life? That you are not bearing fruit? You no longer feel close to God? You are not experiencing peace and joy? Or maybe even that God has left you? I have felt all of these in my 40+ years walking with the Lord. During these times I would ask myself, then ask the Lord, "why do I feel this way?" Usually, I would quickly realize something was off with me, sort of along the lines of "if you don't feel close to God, guess who moved?" So I would pray, "Father, I want to drawn near to You. Help me see and put aside every sin in my life. To humbly receive Your Word and abide by it." (James 1:21,22,25; 4:18) That seemed to get me back on track but it wasn't until recently that I could see, and fully realize, what exactly was going on. That is what I would like to share with you. What God gave me was a new understanding of one of the most familiar verses in the Bible: 'And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit' - Eph 5:18. I know you were probably hoping for something more profound but hang with me here.
If you are like me you have known this verse for a long time. You also know that it is fundamental to living the Christian life. You also know deep down that this is what you need and what you ultimately desire. Also, like me, you have been somewhat confused by what it really means and even more so, how to do it. Sort of like if someone told you, "be filled with happiness today, or be filled with hope, or be filled with lunch." You would say, "yes, thank you very much." Then you would think, "what do they mean? That happiness/hope/lunch will come my way? That I should do certain things that make happiness/hope/lunch come my way? That they didn't mean that I should do anything at all and it was just a nice sentiment?" So, what did Paul really mean by this?
I am not a Theologian so I need to first borrow some wisdom from Andrew Wilson. "In the biblical languages, there is just one word for Spirit, breath, and wind (ruach in Hebrew, pneuma in Paul’s Greek). But in English, we have three different words: breath (from the Old English braet, meaning scent), spirit (from the Latin spiritus, meaning spirit or breath), and wind (from the German wind). So we don’t necessarily see a connection between being filled with the Spirit, filled with breath, and filled with wind. In fact, many of us probably think of being “filled with the Spirit” in terms of liquid, like a glass being filled with water, which raises various questions. (Why aren’t we full already? Do we leak? Can the Spirit be spilled?)
But Paul’s original wording—“be filled with the Spirit/breath/wind”—would make people think of being filled with air. It might call to mind a pipe or a trumpet, which can only fulfill its purpose when it is “filled with the breath.” Or, even better, you might think of a sailboat, which requires a power beyond itself (the wind) to go anywhere. Paul is using a dynamic image, not a static one. A glass of water only needs filling once; a sailboat won’t be useful without continual filling."
If we start with this and then applying it to anything driven by air we will begin to undertsatnd what Paul meant. Let's choose sailing. Most everyone knows that sailing is both a great science and art of making sure your sails are always full of air. There is always a best use of the boats orientation and the sails to move forward. To this end, two terms are used continuously- luffing and tell-tales. Bear with me again and read the sailing definitions of these terms:
"In sailing, luffing refers to when a sailing vessel is steered far enough toward the direction of the wind ("windward"), or the sheet controlling a sail is eased so far past optimal trim, that airflow over the surfaces of the sail is disrupted and the sail begins to "flap" or "luff" (the luff of the sail is usually where this first becomes evident). This is not always done in error; for example, the sails will luff when the bow of the boat passes through the direction of the wind as the sailboat is tacked.
Luff telltales show what is happening with the wind as it goes over the luff of the sail. Instead of waiting for the sail to luff and slow you down, using the telltales allows you to correct the sail trim before the sail flaps."
Do you see where I am going now? Another way of understanding what Paul is saying is "Always be like a good sailor that orient's his boat and sails to get the optimum power from the wind. Be on the alert always to avoid, and to address, any luffing of it's sails. Meaning, orient your life, your heart, emotions and will so that you are always being driven fully by the Holy Spirit. Always watch your tell-tales and pray for God to keep you from luffing, in your moment by moment voyage with Him."
*** Next post I will speak to what luffing and the tell-tales look like in your daily walk with God. And, then, speak to tangible ways to orient our boat and sails to maximize the winds (Spirit) effect on our lives.