Verse of the week

'What does this mean?' Acts 2:12

This Sunday is the Sunday when churches remember the Day of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit first came to dwell in all of God's people. Ever since that day, shortly after Jesus ascended back to heaven, every single Christian, regardless of age, race or sex, has had God the Spirit dwelling in them. That's the closeness of the relationship we enjoy with our Creator God - he lives in us.
That's a great privilege - it's also a great challenge. When the first Christians received the Holy Spirit, he enabled them to speak various languages so they could chat to foreign people staying in Jerusalem. And that work of the Spirit amazed everyone who saw and heard the Christians, causing them to ask 'What does this mean?' The conduct of the Spirit-filled Christians prompted people to want to know what it was that made such a difference, and gave them a chance to tell people about Jesus.
So there's the challenge...as Christians, as Spirit-filled people, would people look at the way we behave and speak and say 'They are different. They've got something I haven't got. What does this mean?' One of the works of the Spirit is to enable Christians to live differently, so that others might see the attractiveness of a Spirit-filled life and want to know more. In our culture, increasingly anti-Christian, it's more important than ever that we don't only welcome the privilege of being Spirit-filled people, but accept the challenge too, and allow God's Spirit to work in us and through us so that people will see us and ask 'What does this mean?'