Ephesians 4:30
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Today's focus will be the Holy Spirit as our seal. Seals have the purpose of protecting and preserving. Food comes sealed so as to keep it fresh for longer periods of time. We as believers are to be kept safe. The world, the flesh and the devil are all enemies of our souls that seek to destroy it. The devil sought to destroy Adam and Eve in the garden. His deception did great harm. He still seeks to wreck us. The devil seeks to tempt us to do wrong and to get us off God's path. The tough part about temptation is that there is strong allure. These bad things seem great. To partake harms us. The Holy Spirit seeks to seal us from the devil. If we are walking with Christ, the encounters with the evil one are those that God allows.
The world has a different value system than God. When we compare godly values to the worlds, they are almost opposites. Jesus said, to deny one's self and take up his cross (Luke 9:23). The world says to seize it and to satisfy self. Christians are to humble themselves, the world says to be confident and take the first spot. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to keep us in God's values and to convict us, if we've got worldly ones.
God has created us with all sorts of appetites. They are good, but can be abused. There is over eating, over drinking, sex in the wrong contexts and so on. Our fleshy nature wants to push things beyond what the bible instructs. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts and minds to keep us balanced.
What a wonderful God we have. He is protecting us from evil. He not only says, "Follow Me", but helps us do so. The Lord's Prayer says, "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
The Pulpit Commentary says, "The Spirit being rather the Seal than the Sealer, who is the Father." That is amazing. He seals us, but is Himself the seal. He stands between evil and us. It's Him. Just as Jesus was our sacrifice, the Holy Spirit is our Seal. So personal. He does send angels and others to help and bless us, but He does much of it Himself.
Many don't want to bother God with their requests. I can appreciate that, as it is good for an individual to be self sufficient. However, God wants to help. Much more than we could imagine. Philippians 4:6 says, "Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." It does say "everything". We aren't bothering Him. He wants to be greatly intertwined in our lives.
Going deeper into how much He wants to be very connected to us, we see Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." He wants to come in our hearts. One can't get much more connected with God than that. Our private thoughts and concerns aren't often shared. He knows them and wants to help us with them.
To rarely or never contact Him is rude and ungrateful. He is God, so He isn't petty. However, it hurts Him to be ignored. He will still reach out in love. People are capable of doing mean things if ignored. God is not. He still will bless us. A sustained creation is the biggest one. Not only what we see, but we ourselves. Our bodies to much to stay alive. It's Him who is doing that. But in love, He keeps everything going.
Holy Spirit, thank You for being our Seal. You protect and connect with us. This protection keeps us with You. The world, the flesh and the devil would have destroyed us. The connection has given us such purpose and joy. Thank You.