Three things happened today. The first was the neighbour’s gardening services who parked outside our property. There is nothing wrong with this, as all pavements are municipal property. They cut back different trees in his property and dumped it on ‘my pavement’. Still no problem, because they would load it onto their trailer. The problem arose when they had loaded the rubble and were ready to drive off that I stopped them … asking whether they were going to clean my pavement. The team leader told his men to clean it up. They tried but did not have a broom. Although they used a blower, the road was full of ‘fruit’ the size of a small naartjie and the neighbour’s grass pavement was pretty messy. Can you imagine a garden service company without a broom?
The second is that after mowing about a third of the lawns, the mower decided to stop working. I checked all the leads and they seemed okay. So I got out the old lawnmower my brother left behind when we bought the house. Also … no go! The opposite neighbor just arrived home from work. I enquired about a nearby lawnmower repair shop. He told me where to go. Although it was late Friday afternoon, they were prepared to help me. The chap said, “It might be a small thing and it might be a big thing.” He checked the blade and said it’s almost ready to be replaced. He then plugged in the mower to his power supply and it worked. He felt that being so hot today, the mower might have overheated. It has an automatic shutoff switch when the motor gets too hot. Well he changed the blade and off I went to complete mowing the lawn. I plugged the mower into my power supply and nothing happened. I changed from the one power supply plug to another and it worked. The problem was a safety switch on an extender plug system that tripped.
The third is that I have a shirt Roy and Angela purchased for me in 2004 in Dubai. I used it for years as a dress shirt. Recently I started to use it in the garden because of a tear. It is thin, short-sleeved and a perfect fit. Over the last few months I have acquired a few more tears. No problem, as it is for gardening and on a hot day like today it is lovely and cool. Once I completed the garden I took it off and Jenny said: “You must see your back.” She then explained that the tear on the back, which is pretty large, was fair game for the sun. I have a large, blood-red sun burn mark on my back. Think of it … no broom … you can’t clean up the mess. No electricity … you can’t mow the lawn. No covering in the sun … and you burn quite badly.
On the spiritual platform, there are things you cannot do and cannot have without the Holy Spirit. As the broom is essential to a gardening service company, as electricity is essential to an electric lawnmower, as the right garments are essential to prevent sunburn … so is the Holy Spirit essential to Christians to function. Many people try to be Christian and do Christian living by good works and they fail just as the broom-less gardeners; just as no electrical power for an electric lawnmower, just as a badly torn shirt on a very hot day! What are they lacking? Power! The gardener needs the broom; the mower needs electricity; the back needs a covering … so the person who wants to live for Jesus and follow Him faithfully needs the Holy Spirit!
It is the Holy Spirit who births you into God’s Eternal family:
Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’”
It is the Holy Spirit who keeps you in God’s Kingdom and gives you assurance:
Eph 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
It is the Holy Spirit who teaches you the deeper revelations from God’s Word:
Jn 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
It is the Holy Spirit who channel’s God’s love into your heart.
Rom 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
It is the Holy Spirit who provides you with Heavenly Manna to nourish your souls:
2 Pet 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit who empowers you to share the Good News of Eternal Life with others:
Ac 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
It is the Holy Spirit who constantly provide you with hope in this hopeless world:
Ro 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank You Father for Your Holy Spirit who sustains and guides me through this life to heaven. Amen.