The Holy Spirit

I once read where an author posed this question: Would you rather have Jesus walking beside you or the Holy Spirit living within you?  My natural reaction is to take Jesus beside me.  Wouldn’t that be cool to experience life the way the twelve disciples did?  However, Jesus indicates that we are much better off choosing to have the Spirit within us.  The night before he died he told his disciples that he was leaving for their benefit, in order for the Spirit to come and dwell within them.  It would be better that way.

And Jesus’ belief is proved true by what actually happens.  Note the stark contrast between the pre-Pentecost disciples and the Spirit-filled disciples.  There’s no comparison!  They go from being frightened and confused to fearless and convicted.  I think we regularly underestimate the importance of Pentecost.  If the Spirit had not been poured out on us, little would’ve changed after the resurrection.  Because the Spirit was given on Pentecost everything is changed - the world and us.  Stop and take a moment today to thank God for giving us his Spirit.