Your 24/7 Companion – Day 3

For the past few days, we have been talking about the Holy Spirit who lives in us and is with us 24/7. We already know that after Jesus’ ascension, he freed us from the condition of being orphans. However, what exactly is the work of the Holy Spirit?

We know that the Holy Spirit acts in the same way as the ancient practice: when someone of a higher rank stood alongside you to support you, teach you how to behave and even to assist you in court cases. This person was called a paraclete and signifies a comforter, intercessor, helper, advocate and counsellor.

In our verse for today, the role of our counsellor becomes clear, “But the Counsellor, 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.” (John 14:26)

Take note of the implication in the second part of the verse: the Holy Spirit will only remind them of what Jesus said to them. In other words, what they heard him say (in our case, what we read in the Bible). If we do not read the Bible regularly to “hear” what truths Jesus wants to emphasise, what is there for the Holy Spirit to remind us of? He unearths, from our memories, the information we have “heard” or “read”, but very often have forgotten. He then opens it in the conscious part of our minds, so that we can remember. An example is Jesus’ disciples who only recalled, after he rose from the dead, that he was speaking of the temple of his body when he previously said that the temple will be destroyed and that he will raise it in three days (John 2:22).

We can only learn when we remember. In the above example, their lesson was that suddenly they could recall what Jesus said and this enabled them to believe the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken (John 2:23). The only problem is that, very often, we do not have the insight and wisdom to understand the full meaning of this recollected information, and how to apply it to our lives. This is where the Holy Spirit comes to our aid. He strengthens us and ties our faith in the Lord and his word. He teaches us to convert our newfound knowledge into action and to start living as he wants us to. Even better, he teaches and leads us into the whole truth, and not into twisted self-interpreted opinions. He truly is the 24/7 Paraclete – the one called alongside us to help us.