Acts 4:23-31 / Jn 3:1-8
Since that day long ago when we first opened our eyes, our minds have been bombarded with images of the vast array of things large and small that fill our world. Ants and elephants, Renoirs and refrigerator art, scowling faces and laughing ones have competed for our attentions and have found their way into the storerooms of our memories. And that doesn’t even begin to take into account the barrage of images that assault our eyes from television and film.
It’s like living in a candy store where everything is free and our eyes are bigger than our stomach. It’s easy to get stuck there and to forget what real food looks like. It’s easy to get stuck on the outside of life, with all its powerful attractions, and never to see what lies hidden beneath the surface, deep inside. The Spirit is with us always, calling us to life, but too often we fail to hear that call because our heads and hearts are so full of surface noise.
How right Jesus was when He said, “Flesh begets flesh, and Spirit begets spirit.” Spirit is what our hearts hunger for, but we starve our hearts without noticing it, and then we feel sad without knowing why. It’s time to turn down the “noise” and to watch and listen for the Spirit. Some wonderful surprises are in store for those who do.