Living “Fillability”
Living “Fillability”
“Have you ever been drunk?” a man asked me. Sheepishly I answered, “Yes, a long time ago thankfully - not pretty.” “My drunk was ugly too,” this man lamented. “Everything was affected. My eyesight. My balance. My entire behavior. Even my stomach and my shoes.”
Interestingly, Paul uses drunkenness to teach us about the fullness of the Spirit “because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15). “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit…” (Ephesians 5:18). Don’t be controlled by wine. That leads to evil living but be controlled by the Spirit. Anything of perceived value that the control of alcohol can bring you, the Holy Spirit can bring and more for real and lasting joy. Let the Holy One, your Sealer and Sanctifier, so be in you and possess you by faith in Christ that you live what, let’s call, “fillability.” That is you are continually overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit.
In Ephesians 5:19-21 Paul mentions three practical results of living “fillability:” “Singing,” “a thankful heart,” and “an attitude of mutual submission.” Aren’t those the gifts you want in these days of COVID 19 fear?! The last blessing is most significant because true submission always involves giving up your right to be in control. When we submit from the heart, we are saying, “I don’t have to have my way all the time. Let it be God’s way or my neighbor’s way.” So how do we, as the present tense of the verb says, “Keep on being filled with the Spirit?”
This man came to church late each Sunday. Sat down in the last pew right hand side. Half way through the sermon in loud fashion he would stand, raise his arms, and shout repeatedly, “Fill me, Jesus! Sweet Jesus fill me!” Then he would leave church and act like a complete jerk. Parishioners, family - all were treated shoddily. He’d gossip, envy, lie, and answer to nobody.
One Sunday during the sermon, in the middle of an arm waving, “Fill me, Jesus! Sweet Jesus fill me!” from this man. Doris Henkel, the 73 year old charter member of the church had enough. She stood up when this man sat down and with her arms up high she shouted to the sky, “Jesus, please, don’t fill him!! He leaks!”
You and I as sinners leak to. Christ forgives and fills through his Word. So be in the Word! Meditate on it. Treasure it. Being filled with the Spirit parallels allowing the Word to dwell in us richly. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Colossians 3:16). Then as the Spirit fills again and takes control, we begin anew to live “fillability.” Jesus see to it in your life and mine.
Grateful with you for the Spirit’s filling through his Word,
Pastor Tim (1-210-837-3934)
