At a recent service at Orchard Baptist we used a lot of props which were in a large carrier bag. Near the end of the service I noticed that the empty bag on the stage was moving in time with the song we were singing.
Was this a miracle? Was this what Jesus meant when he talked about the stones praising him (there are no stones in the building and so a bag had to praise him instead)? I’m afraid it wasn’t, we have a very enthusiastic drummer at the church and his drumming was causing the bag that was a few feet away from the drum kit to vibrate. The vibrations were when he hit the drums and this meant that the bag was moving in time to the music.
I was thinking about what it means to keep in step with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5 v25) and thought this was an excellent picture of what it should be like. The bag wasn’t being its usual self, usually it just sits very still (how boring is that!), it was moving in time to the beat.
Being in step with the Spirit means that we move and act as God does. It means we let go of our preferences and priorities and instinctively live and act as Jesus would.
The phrase ‘In Jesus name’ isn’t a special phrase that persuades God and it is not a spiritual equivalent of saying abracadabra. It literally means ‘on Jesus’ behalf’, in other words that we are acting or praying in the same way that Jesus would act and pray.
What does this mean for us in reality? You see, Jesus wasn’t gentle, meek and mild. He lived to glorify God, he wanted to talk with people about God and what following God means. He loved the people who no one else had time for and he prayed for people that their lives might be changed and that they would receive Gods healing.
Do we want to be in step with the Spirit or would we prefer a quiet life?
