Drunk, Intoxicated, Completely Immersed....in the Holy Spirit!

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
Ephesians 5:15-18

Ephesians 5:15-18 is my reading for today and I did a search and discovered a great devotional by Ronald Ovitt. He writes:

We don’t know much about the Holy Spirit. We get saved, understand that we have the Holy Spirit and then get busy with life. We never take advantage of the relationship that we have with the Holy Spirit. But we cannot afford to be passive any longer. We were not meant to function without the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Paul says we should be “filled” with the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? The key is in the comparison to being drunk on wine. There is only one way to get drunk. You get drunk by being “filled” with alcohol until the amount that you consume has you under its influence. This is not a casual drink that is in moderation. This is in excess to where you become drunk. So what is he saying about our life in the Spirit?

Paul says let us have the same insatiable appetite for the guidance and fellowship of the Holy Spirit that a person does that chooses to get drunk on wine. When we meditate on God’s word, pray and commune with the Holy Spirit, we will begin to be “filled” or “under the influence” of the Holy Spirit’s leading in our daily living. It is interesting, however, that the tense is not a “one time” filling, but actually means “be filled and keep on being filled.”

You do not get drunk on wine once for the rest of your life. The effect of the wine soon dissipates. To continually be drunk you have to continually drink the wine. Although the Holy Spirit does not leave us, in order to stay “filled” or influenced by the Holy Spirit, we need to continually stay in communication and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Isn’t it time that we begin to experience all the ways that the Holy Spirit wants to help us?

I agree with these words. We are to listen to the Holy Spirit in our daily living, yet we choose to ignore the Holy Spirit and do not understand what He says when we need it. The reason we do not understand is because we do not know Him nor do we listen to Him in the daily journey of life. If we fellowship His God's Spirit, we will hear His voice and receive the guidance He offers in good times, bad times, hard times, and typical times. He wants to have a relationship with His people. Do we choose to have a relationship with Him?

You know I love ya, Don