December 19

My husband and I got new bicycles. These aren’t just any old bikes; they are e-bikes, electric, battery-powered, and can excel to 25 miles per hour! We began seeing them a while back on Little Gasparilla's beaches and realized that they might be something fun to experience, so as a Christmas gift to ourselves, we purchased two of them. Oh my! They are so much fun! The air right now is a little crisp to be powering through it, but we forgot about the cold chill the moment we began to pedal, or not; it’s not necessary to pedal! We expect to have endless fun on our new Christmas gift and may never ride a regular bicycle again.

You can compare this experience to having access to the Holy Spirit. On the regular bicycle, you must push forward to propel yourself; it can be exhausting and challenging on the body and not as much fun; it’s like living without the Holy Spirit. Once you try the electric bicycle or e-bike, it’s like having the Holy Spirit; everything changes, life is no longer boring, you are propelled forward by a force that is beyond anything you could imagine, and your purpose in life becomes more apparent. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit as a gift; someone to help us stay connected to him, and if appropriately accessed, he will propel us forward at lightning-fast speeds; we only need to trust in his power.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18