“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10)
On Easter Sunday, my family and I woke up early and got ready to go to church for Easter Services. I was wearing a tie and my beautiful wife was wearing her brand new dress. It was a perfect Sunday morning, a little cool and somewhat wet, but we were going to worship the Lord.
The only problem was I couldn’t get the van out of the garage. The transmission had broken and the van would not go into gear. We were staying home.
I am usually rather meticulous about preventive maintenance. The van was maintained properly, but the transmission just went out without warning. The transmission is the most complicated and least understood major component in the car. It is a component of the drive train that is designed to transmit power from the engine to the drive shaft, which in turn causes the car to move.
Fortunately the transmission is covered under a lifetime warranty by the manufacturer and Monday was spent transporting the van to the dealer for repairs.
Just as the van’s transmission is a mechanical part that transmits power to the wheels, the Holy Spirit is sent by God to transmit power from the Heavenly Father to us. The Holy Spirit was sent to every believer to teach us, counsel us, and to enable us to carry out our Lord’s will and prepare us to be with Him. Receiving the Holy Spirit is also our guarantee of a life with the Father. He is our warranty, if you will.
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)
In the meantime, we wait for our van to get fixed. The transmission will be disassembled, inspected, and the worn and damaged components will be replaced. These damaged parts are commonly referred to as “hard harts.” The transmission will then be reassembled to factory specifications with all new gaskets, seals, clutches, and bands. These are commonly referred to as “soft parts.”
We were once broke, dead in our transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1), but now as believers in Christ, “we are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) The Holy Spirit is replacing our “hard harts” with “soft parts” to our Lord’s specifications.
God bless you and thanks for visiting.
Enjoyed reading this blog very much, thanks Shannon!
By: Michael Gregg on May 7, 2011
at 3:29 pm