Sometimes the Truth is Hard to Swallow

Ephesians 5:18 tells us "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit".

So what does it mean to be filled?   Webster's has a few definitions, one of them being "to spread all through (an area, the air, etc.)".  Interesting.  When I'm having a bad day and my mind is full of complaining and negative thoughts, guess what spills out?  When I'm overwhelmed and stressed, how do I treat people?  But really, you don't even have to get that deep to understand this.  Picture a glass of milk.  It can be empty, have just a little bit inside, be half empty (or half full, depending on your personality), or it can be filled.  However, unless it's filled - there's always something else in the glass.  Even if we're just talking about air (nothing is still something).  You can also add things to the milk - let's say some chocolate syrup...go with me here.  If I have a pretty full glass of milk, and I add syrup to it, it's still just syrup and milk till I mix them together.  But when I do that, I can't get the milk back to it's original form - I've got to dump it out and refill it with the real thing

If I'm filled with the Spirit (the milk), there's no room for anything else, and the only thing that can be poured out from me is the Spirit.  If I'm only half full, then part of what's going to come out is empty - air - nothing.  Additionally, if I mix anything else in with the Spirit (even if we're talking something "good" like chocolate syrup), then I don't have the pure Spirit to be poured out.

Did you ever hear something that sounded like the the Truth, but was sweetened up?  Gotta be careful with that.  Sometimes the Truth is just hard to swallow.

Make sure what you're filled up with is the pure Truth, the true Spirit.  Only then can we be truly filled, so that we can do what comes in the next verse "speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.  Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord."   And isn't that how it feels when you are filled with the Spirit - filled, as in it spreads all through you.  When there's no room for anything else, it just spills out and makes me overflow with joy and praise.  (And you don't need to worry about the nasty hangover that wine can bring!)