It’s a beautiful day outside the high school cafeteria as students grab their lunch and flood outside to soak up the sun. For one young man, however, he knows he has a greater purpose on his school campus besides grabbing his food and hanging out with his friends. He looks across the cafeteria and sees Sara. She’s a freshman and fairly new to town, so she doesn’t have a lot of friends yet. In fact, she doesn’t really have any friends. She comes from a broken home and is fairly quiet. As the young man watches her eat alone, he feels the prompting of the Holy Spirit to go over and talk with her. So he does…
While visiting, they begin discussing their favorite drinks, and he shares that he is water. Sara looks puzzled because water is so bland. The young man expresses that the water he loves is like no other water. He explains that once you have a drink of it, you’ll never thirst again. Of course, Sara wants to know more, so the young man explains that this water is Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The story I just briefly shared is a modern version of the woman at the well. Can you imagine our students living out the New Testament stories today on their school campuses? In fact, can you imagine living out your favorite NT story in your life today? The thing is, we can and should be doing just that. Jesus told his disciples that they would do even greater things through the Holy Spirit than what He did!
Jesus told his disciples that they would do even greater things through the Holy Spirit than what He did!
I’ve been on a journey in my own life to understand what it means to daily walk with a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I’ve learned that many people, including myself, look for specific gifts of the Holy Spirit, but the gift that matters the most is the gift of LOVE. The greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit is love, and all other gifts flow out of it. If we were to look at all the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, the first one listed is love. Jesus even said that the greatest commandment is to love God and love others.
I’ve really been asking myself if I’m loving enough and if I’m teaching on the love of Christ enough. I’ve realized over this past month that the more I teach on the love of Christ and live it out, the more I experience and teach on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. My heart’s desire is to see not just students, but all ages living out modern-day New Testament stories in our everyday lives.
My heart’s desire is to see not just students, but all ages living out modern-day New Testament stories in our everyday lives.