WHAT ARE WE FILLED WITH?
As the early church expanded, we read the account in Acts of several disciples who were ‘full of the Holy Spirit’. When leaders were being sought for the organizational aspects of the early church like distribution of food, they chose “seven men who were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). Stephen is described as a person who was “full of the Holy Spirit, faith, grace and God’s power” (Acts 6:5,8). Of Barnabas it was said, “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:22).
This description is distinct from a one-time filling of the Holy Spirit that happened at or after conversion in some people. Such an event was often dramatic and necessary in the events mentioned in Acts. Many churches give a lot of emphasis to such a dramatic event in the life a believer. However, being full of the Spirit as described above is a way of life. It is what constitutes the person and what defines that person. It is a state of being where the Spirit of God totally controls the person and directs the day-to-day life.
This is demonstrated in the life of Philip wherein as directed by the Lord, he is able to counter-intuitively move away from the center of activity and travel from Jerusalem to Gaza. He ends up meeting with the Ethiopian official and helps him accept Jesus and baptizes him, perhaps starting the missionary work of God in the African continent. It is the same control of the Spirit we see when as soon as the work was done, Philip disappears from the scene and appears at Azotus, several miles away where he continues to preach the word rather than stick around with the Ethiopian official.
No person lives in a vacuum. He is influenced by the media, people around him and the culture of the place he grows up in. Over a course of time, he chooses what controls him. That is the most important and perhaps the only choice he has. Once that choice is made, whatever he has let control to, will dominate his life. Every person therefore is full of something- it can be sport, music, gambling, addictions, movies, television shows, work, money and so on. If you are full of movies, you have to watch all the movies, know everything about them and over a period of time find yourself imitating what you watch. If you are full of the desire for money, you will work toward it, keep adding to your possessions, and never have enough. If you are full of being a sport team devotee, you have to know everything about your team, follow the players on social media, collect memorabilia and treasure past triumphs to compensate for all the current failures.
While any of the above might be fine in moderation, it becomes a problem if you controlled by any of these and that is what it means to be full of anything. The Christian way of life is one where despite our many interests, we refuse to be controlled by anything in this world. It is to God alone we cede total control and choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This means giving Him the pre-eminence in our lives and choosing to let God dictate how to live our daily lives and to what extent we involve with the various aspects of our worldly lives. Such a life is valuable in the sight of God and becomes a productive instrument in the hands of God. Being full of the Spirit thereby becomes the highest a man can reach in this life.
