May 30
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“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  (John 14:16-17, NIV)

I’ve forgotten my wallet.  I’ve forgotten my cellphone.  I’ve forgotten my attache case; but I’ve never once forgotten my heart, my lungs, or even my “who knows what it does” appendix.  All of these latter-named items are securely within us.

So it is with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus tells us that He is here to help us forever; that He lives with us; and that He lives within us.

How cool is that?  We have an eternal helper.  He lives with us.  He lives within us; as surely and securely as our physical organs.

The Holy Spirit is not merely a gift from God; He is the gift of God.  We can never lose this gift, but we can choose not to allow Him to help us; but why would we do that?  – Luther

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May 29
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“‘Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.  My Father will honor the one who serves me.'”  (John 12:26, NIV)

To serve Jesus is to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus is to be with Jesus.

It is not possible to truly serve Jesus without also following Him.  If our service consists only of isolated acts — even sacrificial isolated acts — without a commitment to also go where He goes; and to do as He directs; that service is deficient.

To be a true servant of Jesus is to voluntarily subordinate our will to the will of the One being served.  This type of service cannot be rendered at a distance.  It is intimate.  It is persistent.  – Luther

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May 28
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“But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.”  (2 Chronicles 10:8, NIV)

The passage of time and the limits of my personal scholarship make it difficult to know precisely why Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the men who had served his father Solomon when Solomon was king; but I suspect that it was what the Bible calls the “pride of life” that led Rehoboam to instead consult his contemporaries.

The bible is an old book that challenges our ways.  The traditions of the faithful are tested, but weathered and too-familiar.  The counsel of the ages often seems way out of step with what is being promoted as the latest and the greatest discovery.

We prefer new to old.  We choose fashion over substance.  We do, as Rehoboam did: We reject the advice that established the ways of our successful predecessors for the advice of those who are more like us in our preferences.

When tempted to make changes for the sake of establishing our independence; or for raising our profile; we should call a time-out.  Is the course we have chosen reflective of the “pride of life,” or something much, much better?  – Luther

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