The Winds of Change

John 3:8: … “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

My Leupold rangefinder read 297 yards to the buck. He was standing broadside, hunkered down rear to the wind. A fairly routine shot…normally. But this was not a normal day. The Wyoming wind was topping out at a record-breaking 75 mph. The bullet was going to be blown off target…a lot. I had no idea how much. I’d never calculated wind drift for 75 mph! So I guessed and held the crosshairs just in front on his hip, hoping for a lung shot. From my prone position, I was able to hold steady and escape the worst of the buffeting wind. I waited for a hammering gust to pass and let fly…and hit the buck in the neck just below his ear, at least 4 feet from my point of aim!

I have never actually seen the wind, but like that Wyoming day, I have sure seen and felt its effects. The Bible likens the Holy Spirit of God to the wind in that the Spirit moves and works mysteriously but cannot be seen, though its effects sure can be. Though I believe the Holy Spirit is far more involved in our lives and the world than we can possibly know, the greatest evidence of the presence and work of the Spirit is seen in changed lives. The power of God’s Spirit can miraculously change the very nature of a person, making him or her into “a new creature (in Christ); the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” This remarkable conversion, a sea change, is what Jesus was talking about when He said we must “be born again” – of the SPIRIT, not born a second time of flesh. When we give our lives to Christ, we are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit Who lives within us and changes us, making us a child of God forever. No earthly wind, not a hurricane or tornado, has such power!

Posted by David Morris