I don’t want you to think about an orange rhinoceros flying with blue wings. Now quit it. I don’t want you to think about that orange rhinoceros anymore. You know there is no such thing as an orange rhino that flies, much less one that flies on blue wings. Quit thinking about him and his blue wings! Of course, the point is straightforward: the more we try not to do something, the more we focus on it, the more we ensure that we will do what we are not supposed to do. That’s why the gift of the Holy Spirit is so important to us as we seek to honor and obey our Lord and Savior Jesus and avoid sin. He enables and empowers us to move beyond our sin and to quit thinking about it. The Spirit empowers us, not by focusing on the sin we want to avoid, but by enriching us and “distracting” us with the important things of God (Galatians 5:22). As we focus more on Jesus, the more the Spirit transforms us away from our sin that we want to avoid and thinking about, and transforming us toward the character of Jesus: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect and contemplate* the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).* The Greek word (ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ) means both “reflect” and “contemplate” as most translations suggest in their footnotes.
We’ve included Phil’s ToGather video from four years ago as an added blessing to our verse today:
Abba Father, I thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives in me and is now interceding with you for me (Romans 8:26). Please fill me with your Spirit so that my life more nearly reflects your will and focuses on your concerns as the Spirit transforms me to become more and more like my Lord and Savior. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.
