July 19 I Friday

Psalms 23-25

Acts 21:18-40

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” —John 3:8

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who sat on the Sanhedrin Council, the highest level of Jewish authority under Roman rule. He had achieved success and status and was well respected. Everything was good until a street preacher from Nazareth came along, He had no credentials, no qualifications, no official position, but people gathered in great numbers to hear Him. What did this man, Jesus, have that so attracted the crowds, with many walking away knowing their lives were changed forever? Nicodemus sensed something missing in His own life, and with an open mind, he secretly met with Jesus one night.

Nicodemus asked Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with Him” (John 3:2). Jesus responded, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). This stirred Nicodemus to ask the obvious question: “How can someone be born when they are old?... Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4). Jesus explained, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.… The wind blows wherever it pleases…. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8). The Holy Spirit draws us to God Himself. No one comes unless the Spirit draws them and not only is it God’s business to draw people but the timing of His drawing is His business too.

The Holy Spirit, like the wind, blows where He wills. When the Holy Spirit begins to work, we become keenly aware of a need that cannot be filled by anything we do ourselves and that He is the only solution to that need. Like Nicodemus, we might be trying to do our best for God rather than realizing the bankruptcy of that or our need to receive spiritual life—to be energized from within.

The work of the Holy Spirit is like the wind, something we feel but cannot harness. He may work through a friend, a book, a movie, a song or something else speaking to us, but we can be certain that when we hear the Holy Spirit’s voice, He will in some way connect us to eternal life, which is the life of Christ. All we need do is listen and believe.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for speaking to me through Your Holy Spirit. Draw me into a deeper relationship with You.