I apologize to my loyal few readers… I have been running in a ton of directions and reading a ton, so I have not been writing as much…
Yesterday’s message at church was really good and got me thinking. We were studying in Ephesians 5:18 and so I started looking around to different versions to see how it looks…
Here is how it reads in the NIV; “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
The pastor made a comment about how when someone is drunk, we say that they are “under the influence.” I love the idea of thinking about living my life “under the influence” of the Holy Spirit.
I like some of the language used in the NLT; “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.”
As many of you who have read consistently, or know me at all, know that I struggle consistently with control issues… relinquishing control of my life to Jesus as the Lord and King of my life… it is a constant battle… As anyone who has either been under the influence of alcohol, or has been around someone who is, you know that the alcohol truly controls the person. It affects their behavior and impairs their decision-making process.
The comparison here is, in the same way that you know alcohol has the power to control and affect you and those around you… what if we allowed ourselves to operate under the influence of the Holy Spirit… It would affect our behavior and our decision-making.
Another fun version would be the message “Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him.” So we are talking about Jesus on Tap. This is good stuff.
I thought about introducing different “offense” cards… BUI… Behaving Under the Influence, SUI… Serving the Influence… or LUI… Loving Under the Influence.
Just a thought
