18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
Paul's letter to the Ephesians has some beautiful marriage counselling. For example, "husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church". But all of that is preceded by this advice: don't get drunk on wine, instead get drunk on God. The literal translation is "be continually being filled". So how many times a day do you take a sneaky God drink?
The truth is, we CANNOT live the Christian life unless we're full. Marriage was God's idea, and like most of God's ideas, it is IMPOSSIBLE without Him. Jesus saw a fig tree that wasn't bearing fruit because it wasn't the season for fruit, and he cursed it. What's the point? God expects us to produce impossible fruit, in season and out of season. We get filled with Jesus to do what Jesus did.
We HAVE to live full of the Spirit. Drunks believe they can do the impossible. Holy Spirit drunks believe they can do the impossible, and they actually can.
Maybe you used to be a drinker, and can remember those drunken friends that would persuade you that you could fight the bouncer even though he's 7 foot tall. Thats what the Holy Spirit is like. He convinced David he could fight Goliath. If you drink with the Holy Spirit, you may find yourself talking to strangers and being outrageously generous; you may end up announcing that Jesus loves everyone. Holy Spirit will nudge you to do things you wouldn't normally do.
In marriage, that might mean the washing up or the ironing or risking a heart to heart conversation. Not only that, when you're drunk in the Spirit, Holy Spirit provides "beer goggles" so your spouse will even look better. How? Because you'll see them as God sees them, and begin to love them as God loves them.
Living FULL of the Holy Spirit is essential! Right now, where you're sat, take a drink of the Spirit by faith. Ask Him to fill you and begin to speak (verse 19). Speak in tongues (see podcast) pray in English, sing spiritual songs, and stir yourself up in your most holy faith. Stir the glass and take a drink!
