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Around the turn of the last century, millions of Europeans took part in a wave of immigration to the United States in search of new opportunities. Many who came were of limited means and did not speak English. So it was no surprise that they didn't understand all the terms of their transport. For example, some believed that the meals served on board were on a pay-as-you-go basis. So, wanting to save money, they brought their own food with them. And while other passengers enjoyed the rich fare in the dining room, these families stayed in their cabins, rationing cold meats and dried fruits and hoping for the best. They didn't know that the price of their tickets included three full meals a day!
This story of the misinformed passengers is a good analogy for our Christian lives. As believers baptized into Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit. God himself lives in our hearts—and he doesn’t just live there passively. He wants to take everything that Jesus taught and everything that he won on the cross and impart it to us. He wants to give us “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3) and to become the guiding force in our lives. Such a rich banquet of divine grace is included in our “baptismal ticket,” and yet so often, we settle for cold meats and dried fruit!
At the first Pentecost two thousand years ago, God poured out the Holy Spirit. The disciples were transformed and empowered to live for God in a whole new way. Now, as we begin…
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