Ever seen yourself as a balloon?

We are in the midst of Vacation Bible School at Calvary Chapel El Cajon. Colorful balloons are tied daily to the handrail leading from the upper to lower hallway. In the morning when I come in to work, most of the balloons are laying on the ground, their limp ribbons bowed under the weight. Every day, however, a couple of the helium filled balloons are still in the air. By early afternoon all the balloons are smaller and on the ground. "There's a sermon here Ben," Pastor Dale remarked. So I thought about it awhile.

The only reason the balloon lifts from the ground is because the helium gas that filled it is lighter than air. The balloon in itself is inert and incapable of doing anything. A lot of our activities at VBS involve water balloons. My dad says, "It's amazing the fun you can have with a little water in a balloon." Again, the enjoyment that we find in balloons is due to the virtue of what we fill them with. Sometimes we find enjoyment of the noises we can make when we deflate them, but that is another lesson!

The fact is our souls without Christ can be compared to a balloon: lifeless, inert, and deflated. When a balloon is filled with helium, it has the capacity to lift itself from the ground. When we repent and trust in Christ as Savior, we are freed from the power of sin and death that binds us under eternal judgment in hell and receive the promise of eternal life in heaven. Yet this, like most physical examples of spiritual truth, breaks down at a point. There is only so much air that you can put in a balloon without bursting it. The Bible says that followers of Christ have been given the Holy Spirit without measure (John 3:34), who issues forth from us as water from a living spring.

It is true however, that we must seek this filling of the Holy Spirit in a moment by moment basis. As helium filled balloons will only float for so long, if we cease to fellowship with God through grieving or resisting the Spirit we will sink down without spiritual strength. This is not to say our salvation is in jeopardy, but we cease to walk in the victory God has given us through Christ. We will begin to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. A root of bitterness can begin to grow unnoticed in our hearts. We lack sensitivity to the leading the Holy Spirit because our sin has separated us from His divine influence. We are overcome by our enemies as Samson was blinded, bound, enslaved, and imprisoned by the Philistines. He gave away his strength and we are no better or stronger in our flesh.

David prayed to God in Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. [11] Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit." This is the same spiritual renewal that we need and God is willing and able to help us. If we being evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? When we humble ourselves in the sight of the LORD, it is He who lifts us up.