Friday, May 24, 2019; Spirit of Truth
REFLECTION
Spirit Of Truth
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever; the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17 NIV)
This week our Queen visited a grocery store in Britain and had the self-checkout explained to her. She asked whether people could cheat the system by not scanning the items they are taking out of the store.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/22/uk/queen-self-service-scli-intl-gbr/index.html
At Walmart now when you start the self-checkout it asks you to agree to not cheat the store by skipping some items when scanning. Just before you pay, it again asks you to confirm that you have scanned all your items.
Our culture seems to suggest that it is okay to cheat big companies like grocery stores, so much so that they have video surveillance and prompts at the checkout. Even the Queen is concerned about it!
Lying about what we buy seems to be an accepted norm in our culture today. The reason that given is that big companies like Walmart make too much money off us.
Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit is in us and he is the Spirit of truth. He guides us into truth. Jesus also says that the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him or knows him. Our values of truth is contradictory to many around us. It is not only the Queen who is concerned about honesty and truth. God himself is also concerned.
Life in the Spirit is more that making sure that you scan all your items when you are checking out at the grocery store. It is making sure you live your life in the truth even though people all around you might be hostile to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is difficult to speak or act the truth because some aspect of our lives is at stake. Sometimes we need to make the choice to tell the truth at home, at work or at school. When we do, I believe it is God the Holy Spirit empowering us to do so. He is the Spirit of truth.
Pastor Pye