It is a beautiful but crisp November day! Though the trees are bare and no flowers bloom, Your creation is amazing, Father. Thank You for all You have done and continue to do!

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I glanced at the bookshelf in our office today and saw two items that we found lying around our lot shortly after moving here 30+ years ago. That’s a picture of them above. They are insulators and these are made of glass.

Older people might know where they came from and why they were used, but younger people probably do not. Here’s a quick history. They were developed in the mid-1800s to help with a big problem. Basically, when the wires carrying a telegraph signal and eventually telephone calls and electricity came in contact with a solid object, the transmissions would “leak” into the earth. Without the insulators, enough would “leak” that nothing would be left to reach the intended destination.

Another interesting fact is that small insulators were used on telephone and telegraph circuits. Larger insulators were needed for electrical (power supply) wires. Generally speaking, the higher the voltage in the power lines, the larger the insulator holding those lines has to be. The large ones helped to keep current from “jumping” or arching.

I don’t want to lose you (or myself) here, so that’s enough techy stuff. My thought is that the Holy Spirit serves as the insulator in our lives. God has given us all a lot of power. In Genesis 1:26-28, this is what God said,

“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
….in the image of God he created them;
….male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” NIV

We have a lot of responsibility – power – and for that power to not be wasted, we, especially after our fall into sin, need an “insulator.” The Holy Spirit enables us to keep our power in check. He enables us to channel that power in productive ways that help build God’s Kingdom.

It’s sort of like when you were a kid, and your parents gave you $5 for helping with a task. They were hoping you would keep a good portion of it back for bigger dreams and plans, but if we weren’t supervised, it would be easy to nickel and dime that $5 down to nothing quickly. Often, we wouldn’t even realize that was happening until it was too late, and the last Tootsie Roll was popped into our mouths…and that was that.

Lord Jesus, may we call upon our “Insulator” to help us regulate what we are given. May we not waste the blessings we have on this and thats that little by little siphon them all away. Guide and direct us, we pray. Amen.

Nov 29th, 2023, Wed, 12:59 pm