I am a new driver. My relationship with my car is very similar to that of a newly married couple who had not known each other before. Very awkward! Almost everyday I learn something new about my car. The driving school taught me how to drive the car but it did not really give me many insights into how a car works internally. A few days back, I had just left the campus to drive back home when I noticed a red dot near the fuel tank meter. I saw this red dot change to orange and then back to red. It was a visual treat that I had never seen before. As fascinated as I was by the red/orange dot I was also very concerned. The arrow on the fuel meter showed that the tank was almost empty but I was determined to stop only at the cheapest gas station that I knew of. I decided to go back to the campus and seek help. So, I approached one of my friends and explained everything to him including my plan to stop at the cheapest gas station. I showed him the fascinating red dot. He looked at me and smiled as if I was messing with him. When he learnt that I honestly had no clue about what this red dot was all about he smiled and said, “Christy, your car wants you to know that it may not have enough fuel to take you to your cheapest gas station.”

I find the work of the Holy Spirit to be very similar in our lives. However, the work of the Holy Spirit is way beyond a fuel tank crisis. I feel that our relationship with God would not have been possible without the Holy Spirit. We often talk about how Christ came to restore the relationship of the mankind with God.  I do not know how much we acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in sustaining this relationship with God. John 14:26 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Did you notice the underlined words? God knows about our potentiality to be dumb. God knows about how forgetful we are. He sent the Holy Spirit to us so that our recently restored/established relationship with Him can be maintained. That’s how precious our relationship with Him, is to Him. John 16:8-15 talks more about the work of the Holy Spirit. It says that the Holy Spirit ‘convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.’ To me it sounds like a lot of work. I mean convicting the ENTIRE world? God has put the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to constantly make every single effort for an enduring relationship with Him. The very same passage talks about how the Holy Spirit guides us to the truth and makes known to us from what is Christ’s.

In Romans 8:26-27 it says that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us in accordance to God’s will. How easily are we distracted by the things of this world and ignore the efforts our Creator constantly makes to remind us that He loves us. God takes efforts through the Holy spirit to remind us of how He can provide for us and we get depressed by our latest bank statement. The red dot serves its purpose in alerting me of the status of my car’s fuel tank so that I am not stranded on the road at night. The Holy Spirit serves a divine purpose in sustaining my relationship with God. In regard to the job description of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself said that He had much more to say but it was too much for us to bear (John 16:12). Our minds cannot entirely grasp the depths of God’s love for us. Even more deeper are the ways in which He works through the Holy Spirit to sustain our relationship with Him daily. It is however up to us to either ignore the red dot and be stranded halfway or to take action and heed to the leading of the Holy Spirit and continue the sweet fellowship with Him!