Wind is a powerful force
of nature. You cannot see the wind—like spirit--but you know
it is there. You can see the effects of the wind, and you can feel it.
There are different
names for the wind. A zephyr is a soft, gentle breeze, but a cold,
howling wind from the northern arctic region, or a “norther,” may not be
quite so pleasant.
A monsoon is a wind of
the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, while a sirocco is a hot, stifling
wind, especially one blowing from the deserts of northern Africa into
southern Europe.
In its most potent form,
the wind of a typhoon or hurricane and a tornado can be most devastating
and destructive and often claims lives. The winds driving the waves
during a storm at sea can likewise take their toll on humans and ships.
The wind has spawned
many expressions. For instance, “three sheets to the wind” is used in a
song to show drunkenness, while being free as the wind or gone like the
wind are perhaps a bit less dramatic in most cases. And throwing caution
to the wind may not always be the wisest thing to do.
The “winds of change”
would also signify an unstable condition, while the Bible similarly speaks
of an equally unstable situation—that of being essentially blown about by
any old wind that blows--or “every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14).
Certainly the wind is to
be feared and respected. Tamed and utilized for beneficial purposes,
though, it can be quite useful. The wind can be harnessed and used to
drive windmills for both water and electrical energy and can be used to
drive sailboats and even aid in scoring a field goal in a football game.
Although the Greek word
pneuma (number 4151 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) means
“spirit,” it can also mean “wind” and is so translated in Hebrews 1:7,
where it says, “He makes his angels winds and his servants flames of fire”
(New Revised Standard Version).
A windbag or a “windy”
person is one who is full of wind. This is not a complimentary term. But
a complementary _expression would be for a person to be
filled with—and led by—the Holy Spirit and bear the fruits, or harvest, of
the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25).
The person who has this
“wind” would truly belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9) and live by “the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). This would be a healthy
situation, indeed, leading to renewed life (Rom. 8:11).
If we are driven by
this wind or life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), then according to
Roman 8:14, we will have it made:
“For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
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