In Old Testament times, only certain people experienced the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, namely kings, prophets and priests. The prophets, however, looked forward to a time when all God’s people would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be like prophets and priests to the nations (Joel 2:28-30). In Acts 1, Jesus announces that the time had almost come for this to happen. He instructed his disciples to “wait for the gift my father promised”. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was active in the lives of all believers under the Old Testament, but what Jesus is talking about here is something new. The baptism of the Holy Spirit would empower them for a new stage in God’s plan. To be a Christian is to enter a priestly calling. This means that we are mediators of God’s blessings. Think about the implications of this. To mediate in a situation is not the same as just going out and doing something. To mediate is to receive something and then pass it on. The receiving part is crucial, otherwise we have nothing to mediate. This is why Jesus tells his disciples to wait for the outpouring of the Spirit and then, only when they have received the Holy Spirit, to go out and bear witness to him. Only when the power of Christ is operative in us do we have something to be witnesses of. Here is a good pattern for life: regularly wait on God to receive his light and life into your heart and then go out and bless others with what you have received.
Ask God to shed his life and light into your heart by his Spirit.
Read Acts 1:1-5, Exodus 19:1-6 and Joel 2:28-30
