By Mike Caton

John 3:8, 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.”

The words for wind and Spirit in the Greek are the same. Jesus is comparing something that we are very familiar with to something that we know very little about. We have all experienced the wind; we feel it blow against our skin, we hear it in our ears, we see the trees and grass move, we might smell things that we usually don’t smell, we feel it in our hair, and so forth. We get just a tiny taste of the wind, but there is far more we don’t know. We don’t know here it comes from or where it is going, we might point in a general direction, but that is it. We don’t know what the wind did before it got to us; was it hurricane force bringing destruction or was it gentle and drying clothes on a line? We have no idea what it will do next. But we know the wind is blowing.

Jesus said it is the same with the Holy Spirit of God. We might experience a glimpse of it here and now; maybe we feel his nudging, maybe we see him working in our lives or the life of someone else, maybe we feel his presence, but there is so much more that we don’t know. And the how he works is far beyond us. How does he bring about new birth in an old man? How does he change an alcoholic, an addict, an abuser, a thief, a glutton, a whatever? But thank the Lord, we know he does! Because we know that we were changed, and are in the process of being changed.

There must be a new birth, a new commitment, a new direction in our life. And while we have a part to play in that change, so does the Holy Spirit. And both of us have to be willing to work together to bring about this new life. There is no doubt God is ready and willing. The question becomes, how ready, how willing, how committed are we?

Father, help me let the Holy Spirit work. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works part time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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