| “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Paul places two images before us–drunkenness and being filled with the Holy Spirit. There are certain things that drive people to drink. The pressures of life, the demands that are severe that lead to some type of stimulation to overcome it. There are some things in life that causes one to take a drink to undergird, to give confidence, to help, and to give strength. There are a lot of situations that stir people to drink. In contrast Paul says that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. For He will stimulate, strengthen, subdue the human failures and feelings and satisfy us with His workings. There is no shame to feel the sense of need. We were not made to be self-sufficient, independent creatures. We need Someone to help us feel adequate to face life; do not be troubled by that. Herein is the real and great secret of Christianity. It is the possibility of being filled with the Spirit of Christ. Each child of God has the Holy Spirit living in them, but many are not filled with the Holy Spirit. They have the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit does not have them. The Holy Spirit is present but He is not president. He is resident but He is not residing. He resides in you but maybe He does not preside through you. He is our inner supply for every need. Christianity is not just about coming to church, getting a blessing, and then going away to live in the light and warmth of the blessing until it leaks away. No, we have much more than that. We drink {believe} into Him and “Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water,” John says, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7:39a). That is the strengthening that comes from within, and He is plenty for the situation. So drink in and drink up, for by Him we live and move and have our being.
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