We’ve all seen the advertisements for Gatorade® showing freakishly fit individuals sweating up a neon-colored storm, while the tag line “Is it in you?” appears across the screen.  Apparently, having Gatorade® in your system will make you a world-class athlete capable of wondrous physical feats the likes of which have never before even been attempted by the average human coach potato and give you cool purple sweat to boot. 

Wouldn’t it be great if there was such a thing available to Christians to enable us to do great feats of service for Christ?  Guess what?  There is.  It’s called the Holy Spirit.

In the first chapter of Acts, Jesus directs his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait together.  There they will receive a baptism unlike that from John, but rather a baptism of the Holy Spirit.  We have to remember to whom Jesus was talking.  These were the eleven remaining disciples.  The ones who followed him for three years and yet never truly understood what Jesus was really all about.  The great men of faith and power who ran for cover when Jesus was arrested.  The ones conspicuously missing from the crowd at Jesus’ crucifixion.  The brave souls who heard about the resurrection from a group of women.  Not a hearty bunch really, but things were about to be radically different.

In Acts 2, the eleven remaining disciples and other followers of Jesus waited in an upper room for the baptism Jesus promised.  Enter the sound of a violent wind and the descent of what appeared to be tongues of fire on each head.  The house was filled with the Holy Spirit and none of the inhabitants would ever be the same. 

People outside the room began to hear those inside proclaiming the greatness of God in languages that would were not known to the speakers.  As with all unusual occurrences, they began to draw a crowd and the requisite amount of mockery.  Peter then addresses the crowd.  Peter, the disciple who denied Jesus.  Not only does he address the crowd, he preaches a sermon and 2000 people are added to the church that day.  Pretty impressive for a guy who less than two months previous denied Jesus three times.  After that day the same men who ran scared become bold witnesses to the world sacrificing everything to the point of death for the cause of Christ.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.  More of like a complete transformation, and the good news:  we can be transformed too.

In Ephesians 5:18, Paul admonishes us to not to get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery, but instead, to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Just like Gatorade® replenishes the body of the nutrients and fluids that are lost during physical exertion, the Holy Spirit empowers and refreshes our souls after spiritual exertion.  Throughout the Epistles, Paul continually reminds us to refill our systems with a fresh dose of the Holy Spirit.  Just like drinking one bottle of Gatorade® doesn’t satisfy your body’s needs forever, we need to take continual care to replenish our spiritual needs on a daily basis. 

We can be changed to be more powerful witnesses, more competent teachers, more effective prayer warriors by immersing ourselves in the Holy Spirit and allowing him to fill our spirits with the strength only he can supply.  It’s more than showing up at church at 10:30 on Sunday morning.  Simply warming pew is like dying of thirst in a waterfall.  You can be soaking wet and dehydrated all at the same time.  Instead, dig into the scripture.  Commune with God daily in prayer.  Not just a sanctified honey-do list, but real conversation with the lover of your soul. Choose to fill your mind those things that build up your faith instead of tearing you down.  Things that seem so simple, so basic, and yet the things that can change your life and your Christian walk forever.  All the disciples did was to wait in a room like Jesus asked.  He did the rest.  So it can be with us if we allow him.

The Holy Spirit:  Is it in you?