When I was a child, I learned from my parents and Sunday School teachers that Jesus wants to live in my heart. At the time, I thought nothing was odd about that. I was told to “ask Jesus into my heart.” I eagerly did so.
I don’t remember when I stopped believing that or talking about my relationship with Jesus in those terms of “living in my heart.” Children are very literal, humorously so. Children think in very physical terms, and they have no problem with the idea of a tiny little Jesus swimming around inside your heart.
But at some point that image becomes obviously impossible. We grow up and realize that our parents and Sunday School teachers were using figurative speech. Often, in our maturing process, we swing to the other end of the spectrum and we can conceive of our relationship with God as entirely exterior.
In recent years, I’ve swung back to what I hope is more faithful view. There are passages such as Ephesians 3:14-19 that depict God’s desire to live with us. Even if we are quite materialist in our view of the human person, we recognize that humans have an interior life as well as an exterior life. Scripture teaches that God is deeply concerned about our interior life.
We read about that in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 19.
In the New International Version, this verse is five words, “Do not quench the Spirit.”
Just five words, but packed full.
For starters, let’s talk about the Spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God. God, the Spirit.
We Christians believe that God is Trinitarian. Three in one. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. They each have other titles and names, of course, but Father, Son, and Spirit are the most common. This week we’re talking about God the Spirit.
This brief five-word sentence in 1 Thessalonians 5:19 assumes something very important. “Do not quench the Spirit,” assumes that you and I can have a relationship with the Spirit. Think with me for a moment how amazing it is that you and I can have a relationship with God the Spirit.
In ancient Israel, it was exceedingly rare that the people of God had a relationship with God the Spirit. Only a few leaders like Moses, David, and Elijah, are described as being filled with the Spirit of God.
But in the New Testament, we read that Spirit comes upon all Christians on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
You yourself are temple of God. In ancient Israel, the presence of God resided at the tabernacle and temple. Since the first day of the Christian church, however, God resides within his people.
The Spirit of God is in you. This is a reality now in our lives. The Spirit lives with us, in us. Think about that. God the Spirit is in us.
That bring us back to the rather harsh reality of our passage, 1 Thessalonians 5:19. Thought the Spirit of God lives with us and in us, we can quench the Spirit. We learn more about that in the next post.
Photo by Elvin Hacaliyev on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 