The Power the Spirit in You

One of the images for the Holy Spirit in the Bible is that of the flame. The Holy Spirit melts cold hearts and ignites a spark of hope in us – a spark that can be contagious.

I recently heard a parable that makes the point: Once upon a time there was a piece of iron, which was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed.

“I’ll master it,” said the ax… and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the ax’s edge blunter, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration.

“Leave it to me,” said the saw… and it worked back and forth on the iron’s surface until its jagged teeth were all worn and broken. Then in despair, the saw quit trying and fell to the side.

“Ah!” said the hammer, “I knew you two wouldn’t succeed. I’ll show you how to do this!” But at the first fierce blow, off flew its head and the piece of iron remained just as before, proud and hard and unchanged.

“Shall I try?” asked the small soft flame. “Forget it,” everyone else said. “What can you do? You’re too small and you have no strength.” But the small soft flame curled around the piece of iron, embraced it… and never left it until it melted under its warm irresistible influence.

Pastor James Moore picks up on this parable and writes, “There’s a sermon there somewhere. Perhaps it means that God’s way is not the way of force but love. God’s way is not to break hearts but to melt them. Perhaps it means that that is our calling – to melt hearts… under the irresistible warmth of God’s gracious love.”

The truth is, we live in a world with tremendous needs all around us. Think about all the lonely and hurting people in our cafeterias and classrooms at school, in our neighborhoods, and even places of work. All around us, there are tremendous opportunities for us to listen, to give, to care, and to show Christ’s love.

In your own life, I wonder how you might demonstrate the irresistible warmth of God’s gracious love.

Let us pray: Loving and Gracious God, fill us again with your Holy Spirit. Melt our cold hearts and set us afire with hope – hope that leads us to make a difference in your name. Amen.