LEFTOVERS!

I can remember "before pavement," at least back to when most of the roads were dirt roads; in the dry, hot summer they were dusty (like the one in the picture) and I do mean dusty, but when the rains came, they changed into sticky, muddy, slippery, impossible-to-stay-between-the-ditches, good only for a horse, pig paths. The truth is when the rains came, many were simply impassable; if you were at home, you stayed at home; if you were not at home, well, you had a very difficult time getting there. All-too-often, you walked most of the way home because your vehicle couldn't manage to stay clear of the ditch and got stuck-up-to-the-axle in mud.

As you might imagine, the county spent quite a bit of tax money not only scraping these dirt roads, but also keeping the "road scrapers," as they were called back then, in good working condition, not to mention, keeping "qualified" drivers on the machines.

In many ways, studying the person of the Holy Spirit reminds me of those old dirt roads. Now, don't let that offend you, just keep reading (had it not been for the difficulties of those old dirt roads, we would not have paved roads today!).

For example, I well-remember as a young kid being scared-to-death of riding on those dirt roads, especially when they were muddy and slippery. "Running in the ditch" in the middle of the night did not rank very high on my list of ambitions, and walking the rest of the way home, was not even on the list (Please remember that cell phones were not quite in style back then, and if the local operator was asleep, the land line didn't even work.) In much the same way, I can well-remember being scared-to-death of the Holy Spirit; well, that isn't quite right because it was more the manifestations of the Holy Spirit that bothered me than the Holy Spirit Himself. Why, I have seen some things that would cause anyone to "run in the ditch," or run somewhere!

I can also remember (finally) getting to the place where things weren't quite as scary (mostly after I learned to drive) and, well if you have traveled on any of those old dirt roads you know, before long, I would get careless and find myself and my car "in the ditch." I really do not know how many times I have been "in the ditch" when it comes to my journey toward grasping the truth of the Holy Spirit but I will tell you that some of those ditches were rough--speaking in tongues; interpreting tongues; words of knowledge; words of wisdom; and healing, to mention a few.

Now a bit about ditches: ditches are necessary, if you expect to have decent dirt roads; without them the rains would wash the entire road away, not to mention that you wouldn't have anything in which to run, when the road was slippery. Why you couldn't even tell the road from a cotton field (I have witnessed this many times, when there were no ditches)! I tell you that to tell you this: were it not for the "ditches" I have encountered in my quest to know the Holy Spirit and to know His ways, I would have long ago given up the quest.

One more thing before I end this piece of literary genius: on those hot, dry Summer days, when the dirt roads were dusty, the last thing you wanted was to have someone driving in front of you. The reason should be obvious: the dust their car would create would put a Middle East dust storm to shame! This is the fact: you could not see where you were going, unless you drove right on the bumper of the car that was in front of you, thereby, avoiding its "contrail" of dust. You see, the "contrail" of religious dust that I have encountered along the way taught me this valuable lesson: If I really want to see clearly the truth regarding the Holy Spirit, I must drive right on His heels; watching from a distance will serve only to, well to blind me with religious dust!

You might be in the "ditch" right now, or you might be traveling a "muddy, slippery" road in your journey to know the Holy Spirit, but in any case remember this: it is the journey that gets you to the destination we call Home!

Traveling with fellow travelers,
Your Pastor