21 Days of Stretchናሙና

Holy Spirit Activate

"Holy Spirit activate, Holy Spirit activate, Holy Spirit activate, activate, I said activate!”

This is a well known meme that became popular in late 2021. We may have laughed but we all know there is truth in this. We need the Holy Spirit to activate His power in our lives every single day. One of the most important areas in our lives for which we should be singing (or praying for) this, is in the area of holiness.

Holiness comes as a gift to us when we declare Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour, God declares that we are now holy (1 Peter 2:9). If we have received this gift then we should use it. Sanctification is the process of becoming holy and that is where we often drop the ball. We receive the gift but spend little, to no time, going through the process to develop it. Our holiness is first and foremost our devotion to God and this definitely requires stretching.

Now holiness does not just mean isolating and withdrawing from all things worldly but it is choosing daily, to dance to the music of the Holy Spirit, rather than the music of the world (metaphorically and literally). It is stretching ourselves to make the intentional choice to practice spiritual disciplines, to discipline ourselves to cultivate mature fruit of the Spirit. Remember, we do not become holy by our own efforts, it is the daily activation of the Holy Spirit’s power within us! According to the Cambridge Dictionary, ‘’activate’’ means ‘to cause something to start’ but there is also a chemistry (specialised) definition; ‘to make a chemical reaction happen more quickly especially by heating’. The Holy Spirit’s power is a catalyst for our holiness.

God’s standard for holiness is clear, the Bible says in 1 Peter 1:16 ‘For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”’ - He is who we are striving to be like, not your favourite worship leader, not your friend who has been saved for 20 years, not even your pastor. Going back to the chemistry definition of activate is really exciting because heat is an activator often used in chemistry to get things going in a reaction. Do you need the fire of the Holy Spirit to ignite your process of sanctification? Do you need to reevaluate what you are using for your standard of holiness? This year’s fasting period is the time to stretch yourself in the process of becoming holy, don’t wait until everything seems right or when you have lived your ‘full’ life in the world before you set yourself apart for God! The Holy Spirit is your helper, and He can activate your sanctification, if you are willing.