An Inside Job

Bible Reading: John 14:19-21

When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:20

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Sasha wakes up in a great mood and dresses quickly. She and her boyfriend, Nicholas, are going to spend the day at Dizzyland, her favorite amusement park. Bounding down the stairs to the kitchen, she chirps, “Hi, Mom. Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Mom turns from scrambling eggs on the stove, and Sasha notices a strange green glow in her eyes. “Mom, are you all right?”

Her mother begins to twitch. “It might not be as beautiful as you think,” she says in a voice that sounds like a fork grinding in the garbage disposal. Then Sasha’s mother grabs at her own neck and pulls away her face as if it were a latex mask. Underneath is a throbbing purple head with one big eye and yellow slime oozing from a mouth jammed with fangs. Sasha screams in horror and sprints to Nicholas’s house.

“Nicholas, the most awful things are happening to me,” sobs Sasha in Nicholas’s arms. She explains her terrifying experiences, and Nicholas holds her.

“It’s okay, Sasha,” he assures. “You’ll be safe with me.”

Suddenly, Sasha pulls away. “Sorry I can’t say the same for you, bucko,” she hisses. Then she unzips her body from head to toe, and as the fleshy costume falls away, a giant squid-like creature emerges. Paralyzed with fear, Nicholas is quickly enveloped in the squid’s slimy tentacles. Just before blacking out, he thinks, I really should date other girls.

You have something living inside you, but it’s a not a monster from a B-minus horror flick. It’s something as awesome as an alien is ugly.

Jesus told his disciples that he would be in them-not just with them, not just beside them, but in them (see John 14:20). Paul confirmed it. He wrote, “Christ lives in you” (Colossians 1:27). “Hey, time out,” you may say. “Yesterday you said it was the Holy Spirit living inside me. Now you say it’s Christ. Who is really in there: the Holy Spirit or Christ?”

If you are a Christian, Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit both live inside you. They are one and the same. The Bible explains that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ (see Romans 8:9), and the same Holy Spirit who lived inside Jesus lives in you to teach you, comfort you, and make you strong.

REFLECT: How do you feel knowing that God is so near to you?

PRAY: What do you want to say to God about his being so close and so available to you?