by Victoria Heinecke

We err, but the Holy Spirit does not.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.  

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11 English Standard Version

Recently, I had the opportunity to sing several works by Georg Friedrich Handel, one of which analogizes a human life as a meteor. The lyrics read, in part: “We err, like meteors. Tossed through the void, by some rude shock we’re broke. And all our boasted fire is lost in smoke.”

Meteors can be fearful objects to many. We read accounts of large meteors which explode and wreak havoc on a part of the earth. There are large craters where a meteor once struck the earth. If you visit Meteor Crater in Arizona, you can read estimates of how powerful that explosion was. It’s said that that meteor hit the earth as a gigantic fireball, changing the composition of the rocks with its heat, and destroying life and vegetation for miles.

As I reflect on John the Baptist’s proclamation of the arrival of Jesus, I wonder what the people of Israel thought about being “baptized with fire?” Were they afraid, in spite of the good news that John preached?

It turns out that being baptized with the Holy Spirit doesn’t literally burn a person, at least not on the outside. He burns conviction in our hearts, and counsels and guides us in the way we should go. He makes our faith come alive with a fire that cannot be extinguished, and we become lights in a dark world.

We may err, but the Holy Spirit does not. He helps us see our sin, and guides to repentance and reconciliation with Christ. And that reconciliation leads to eternity with Christ when our earthly light goes out.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado