Drinking of the Spirit

We must learn to drink, this should be taught in churches as christianity 101. Jesus said, “Whoever is thirsty let him come unto me and drink.” (see John 7:38) and “We are all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) Drinking is absolutely biblical. The only drinking problem we are allowed to have is one of indulging ourselves on the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

Too many christians don’t understand this basic principle of drinking the Spirit of God, and therefore live defeated, empty, unfulfilled, passionless, and boring lives. If they would simply stick their heads under the fountain of living waters and drink their fill of the supernatural presence of God (which is already inside of them), they would discover the key that makes the christian life work.

Paul made an interesting contrast between drinking wine, and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

“Do not be drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)

He is saying that just as you would indulge yourself on alcohol, you are to drink your fill of the Spirit of God. Instead of getting drunk on wine, be drunk on the Holy Spirit. Just as you would look for pleasure in the bottle, look instead to the presence of God, and let Him be your bliss, let Him satisfy the deep cravings in your heart. I can tell you from experience, both are intoxicating, but only the Holy Spirit will enrich your life rather than destroying it. His presence is supremely intoxicating and infinitely more pleasurable than wine.

Another key in this verse is the verb tense of the word “be filled,” in the greek it’s in the continuous present tense. In other words it’s not be filled once and that’s it, period, and move on, but rather a more literal translation would be, “go on being filled,” be continually filled, constantly filled, filled everyday. It’s not a one-off experience, but a lifestyle of drinking the Spirit. This is what Paul is advocating! It’s not a suggestion but a new covenant command – BE FILLED! You may be asking yourself how often should we drink? All the time! He never ends, we’ll never exhaust the infinite supply of His glory. Start drinking, and it will revolutionize your entire life, you will never be the same again I assure you!