A New Passover

[HKHaugan]

A New Passover

 When I say ‘every next moment’ I am really talking about every next ‘event’ in your life and my life. It’s a consciousness of what is actually happening as we move about from one place and person to another. It may be a planned meeting, a person-to-person encounter, something unexpected, an awareness of the scenery, a daily task; you name it. This is life as we know it. What are we doing to prepare for that process?

Consider first that there are two kinds of believers, those who are directed by the world and its standards and those who have accepted Jesus as Lord of every moment. The first group are constantly on guard and attempting to be right by themselves. They are always living in anxiety on the edge. The second group seek the Lord’s counsel and trust the Holy Spirit to guide their choices and decisions.

There are some givens in the process. When you survey the social landscape, each one of these things has a similar theme. They are brand new in every case. They are a combination of experiences, spiritual, personal and relational, each of which makes its demands calling us to give a right response. Each response is dependent on what we believe is the best way to get through whatever we are faced with. The process of life in this world of events takes belief, trust and faith. Belief in the reason we trust will be faithfully done. Who and what leads the process? Yes, there is a daily routine, give or take its uniqueness. But as you move through them it’s all new in what is expected; that is, what you expect and what others expect that is never the same. Newness, uniqueness and our awareness of them is what we bring into every next event.

But there is something else at work here. The challenge to meet any occasion with the right attitude stands before us. Attitude is always there. Concern for being right is our first filter. If we have the right attitude, we are able to have the right response, the right action and, hopefully, the right outcome. Logically, attitudes are plural and self-developed. Attitudes, having been self-developed are tiring because they shift from one moment to the next depending on who you’re with and where you are. They are based on fear and are influenced by the attitudes and opinions of others. There is no peace in attitudes. You’re always on the alert fearing you might not get the moment right.

Spiritude is what we were made for. The attitudes we have developed need discarding. Spiritude is always ready to take their place. Spiritude is the gift of the Holy Spirit we have from the Lord reshaping our minds to think and act spiritually. It is singular and lasting. With Spiritude you always have one consistent voice counseling you in the background. It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are with. You can be confident and assured that you are equipped, not by fear but by the Spirit of the Lord.  

Consistent with God, there are three resources at hand to build you personal Spiritude. The first is the Scripture which was inspired by the One Holy Spirit. You have prayer whereby you process what the Scripture says and keeps you aware that the Lord is always present with you. You have the Body of Christ, spiritual brothers and sisters, to help you process your life experiences. They too are operating out of Spiritude and, like us, are learning how to rid their lives of attitudes. Disciples of Jesus are in the process of passing over from attitudes to Spiritude; the believer’s ‘Passover.’