Whoever Finds Me Finds Life

"For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD," Proverbs 8:35

In reading through Proverbs 8 today, I was again struck by the reality that the Holy Spirit is a person. To be sure, I am a trinitarian as they come, but it is easy, too easy, to relegate the Spirit to a some kind of secondary status. He is like an athlete who comes off the bench to make the game winning play. We are glad he was there, but it was the starters that got us to the final seconds. That may be our perception, but that is far from God's reality.

As time allows I would respectfully ask you to thoughtfully read Proverbs 8. Absorb the fact that "Wisdom" is speaking. Wisdom speaking? Really? Does that mean wisdom is not a commodity to be handed out like candy at a parade? Maybe the truth of it is that Wisdom (i.e. the Spirit) is a person we come to know and to emulate, thus becoming wise. (See Prv 13:20). Beyond that, consider passages like Eph 1:13-14 or 1 Cor 2. The Holy Spirit has been given to us so that we may have the wisdom of God and the mind of Christ.

One last thought. Even though the Holy Spirit, by the nature of his role in the Trinity, is the "behind the scenes" person, we must strive to not commoditize him. There is so much in our walk with Christ that would be impossible without the Spirit (dare I say all of it!) so we must give him the respect and praise that is he is due! And as we stretch our puny minds to even grasp these realities, we can praise and thank the Spirit that we are able to grasp even a small part of of the grand reality of God.

To God Alone be the Glory