Be Filled With the Spirit

A few years ago my brother owned a small house and farm in the White Pine, Tennessee area. He rented it out for a while but after being unsuccessful playing the role of landlord, he decided to put the property up for sale. After weeks of frustration and securing a court order to get his delinquent renters out, the property was vacant and ready to be put on the market. While in the process of selling, several days passed and one day my brother decided to go check on the house. When he pulled into the driveway there was a man sitting on the front porch. My brother asked, "Who are you?" The man replied, "We needed a place to live and we came by here and this house was empty so we moved in." My brother responded, "Well this is my house and you will need to move." The amazing thing was that it took several weeks to get that family out of his house. Although this was frustrating to him, I thought it was hilarious. So what is the point of the story? Paul in Ephesians 5:18 said, "Be filled with the Spirit." The opposite of being filled is to be empty, and emptiness leaves one susceptible to any intruder that desires to trespass. Even greater is the fact that once we allow the enemy to trespass, getting him to vacate the property is no easy task. That's why we must daily take Paul's admonition seriously and make sure that we are not found empty but "filled with the Spirit."