M-G: 4.25.11 // Who is at the Wheel, Eph 5:18, KJV

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“Just as water ever seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds you abased and empty, His glory and power flow in.”   – Andrew Murray

Those intoxicated are controlled by the wine, likewise, those filled with the Spirit are controlled by the Spirit. The idea here is that being filled with the Spirit has to do with being controlled by a power outside of man. As the inebriated man is being controlled by the wine, filled with the Spirit is where the whole heart, the seat of the emotions, intellect, and will are being controlled by the Holy Spirit.

“Be filled” is a present passive imperative in the Greek; what does that mean? It means at least three things to us who believe.

1.  Present – To be filled with the Spirit is continuous, not occasional. It is a 24/7 event.

2.  Passive – To be filled with the Spirit is submissive, not assertive. We cannot make this filling happen by human effort.

3.  Imperative – To be filled with the Spirit is commanded, not optional. We are commanded to be filled constantly with the Holy Spirit.

We have the entire Person of the Holy Spirit at regeneration, but constantly being filled with the Spirit is about power to perform God’s will under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of being filled with the Spirit is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).

Think of the body as a glove. The glove cannot do anything no matter how much we command it. Once our hand fills the glove it does whatever we desire. We control its every move.  Until we allow the Spirit to constantly be filling us, we are powerless to do God’s will. Whenever we allow the Spirit to empower us like the hand filling the glove, He can control our every move, not as robots but as followers of Christ. “Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). Any other walk is an unfulfilled walk and disobedience. Filling gives meaning, purpose, and drive to life. Believers have all the Holy Spirit because He is a person, but does the Spirit have all of us? Who is at the wheel? A country song would do nicely right about now.

Jesus take the wheel

Take it from my hands

Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go

So give me one more chance

To save me from this road I'm on

Jesus take the wheel

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