Tuesday, April 18, 2023

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14:15-18

As Jesus prepared to leave his disciples whom he dearly loved, he understood that they had grown to love him too. They relied on him to teach them. They relied on him as their leader. They had grown accustomed to having him by their sides. So, he made a promise to them. He promised that they would not be alone. He declared in John 14:15-17 that another advocate, the Holy Spirit, would be with them forever.

As children, we grow accustomed to being with our parents, to being surrounded by their love, to rely on their wisdom and direction. But we all know that children grow up, and the time comes to sever physical ties with those who birthed and reared us. Most of us leave home. We go away to college, to the military, to work. We make lives for ourselves. Yes, we may see our parents from time to time, and we are grateful for the lessons they taught us as we grew up. Our earthly parent-child relationships are true blessings, but they can’t compare with the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Because He is with me, even when I am by myself, I am not alone. As I navigate life’s hills and valleys, and experience a myriad of feelings and emotional states, when I’m battered, beat up, and banged up, I don’t have to feel alone. Thank you for your Spirit. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen