Imagine
yourself at a party. You were invited, and you like the people who are there.
However, it is late in the party and no one has spoken one word to you. You
have tried to initiate conversations to no avail. When you speak it is as if
your words dissolve before they leave your mouth. You are a ghost at the party
though you are as real as everyone else there.
Have
you ever been ignored? The feeling is very frustrating. There is a significant
amount of disrespect that is shown when a person is ignored.
I
say "Hi!" to people all the time. It's just in my nature to do so. Most of the
time the other person will smile and say it back. Sometimes they will merely
smile, but it is those times when the person, who clearly saw me, simply walks
by without acknowledging my existence that stick in my mind. I want to stop
them and find out why they felt justified to ignore me, but I just let them
keep walking. Ultimately it is no big deal for a stranger to ignore me. The times
it hurts are when it is someone I love that does the ignoring.
I
wonder if the Spirit feels that way. We invited Him into our lives when we were
baptized (Acts 2:38) yet we ignore His existence for the most part. How much
time do you spend thinking and focusing on Jesus and God compared to the
Spirit. There's a party inside your soul, but the one who lives inside you is
often ignored.
It's
pretty obvious to see who is ignoring this guest of honor. Paul noticed it when
he wrote to the Galatians church. He asked them, "What happened to all your
joy?" (Galatians 4:15)
I
know so many people who want to be happy in this life. They try all they can to
pursue it. They put forth much effort and a good amount of their concentration
to find it. They try and try to get rid of the sin in their life in hopes that
it will bring the happiness they desire. People are literally dying to find
happiness, yet it is a temporary feeling.
Have
you ever seen someone with happiness in the moment but no joy in their life? I
see it all the time. Maybe it is you. One of the fruits of the Spirit, whom we
often ignore, is joy. I don't know about you, but that's what I really want. It
is joy that will see you through any circumstance that befalls you. Joy is
eternal -- happiness is temporary.
So,
where's your joy? Are you living in the Spirit in such a way that there is true
joy in your life? Have you been ignoring the guest of honor in your life? If
you've been baptized, then the Spirit is in you and wants to guide you to the
life you've always deeply wanted.
Want
to know more? Let's talk. I'd love to study more about this with you. God bless
you as you allow more and more of your life to be centered in the Spirit.
