I’m taking a few posts to talk about the jealousy of the Holy Spirit. It’s clear from Scripture that we serve a jealous God. We need to understand that if we continue to ignore and reject His attempts to cultivate a relationship with us, we start to arouse this jealousy.
What does this look like?
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I am a temple to the Holy Spirit. Think about it like the ancient Greek temples. My temple says Holy Spirit on the front.
What would you expect if you came to that temple? What if you entered it and saw a Star Trek Convention going on inside? You may question the priest about it.
“It’s only for this week.”
What if for the next few weeks you visited this temple and saw a beauty pageant, a chili cook-off, and a real estate seminar.
You’d ask; is this a temple to the Holy Spirit or is it something else? With that thought in mind, consider what happened when Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple.
To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
John 2:16-17
Notice the righteous anger that Christ displayed. What was it that aroused such an attitude? The disciples realized that Jesus was consumed by a zeal for the house of God.
When Christ told His disciples about the Holy Spirit, He said that He was sending “another counsellor just like Me.” (John 14:26 – My paraphrase!) The difference is that the Holy Spirit lives in us. He lives permanently in His temple; our body.
The first verse we looked at in this series of posts said He was intensely jealous (James 4:5). Do we really get the point? We’re living in the Last Days. The Holy Spirit is starting to cleanse His temple. We need to submit to His program or face the loss.
Remember – the Holy Spirit will not hurt His temple. But He will start to ruin that which would try and steal our affection. In my experience, I’d rather willingly give up something, than have the Lord remove it from my life.
What do we do?
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8
If you really want what the Holy Spirit’s desire, then sow to please the Spirit. He doesn’t say to summon up all your will power and live right. No! Simply submit to His plan and sow the Word and prayer. Spend time with the Spirit.
Question: What do you need to do to sow to please the Spirit?
© Nick Zaccardi 2015
The Spirit and the Word 