The Holy Spirit . . . Our Co-Pilot.

The Holy Spirit Is Our Co-Pilot

When I was young I had a secret desire to learn to fly an airplane. I used to build those model airplanes, the WWI, two-winged planes with the open cockpits.

Back then we used balsa wood and paper. (The fun went out of it when someone thought of making them in plastic but they were much easier to build) I liked to imagine that I was in one of those small planes, having a “dogfight” in the air with the enemy.

Somewhere I picked up a kit that was supposed to teach you how to fly. It consisted of a flying manual and a card board cockpit with gauges and controls printed on it. It was really impressive looking. It was so real to me that I used to sit in front of that cockpit at our dining room table and fly that table all over the globe. And you know what? After just 2 or 3 lessons I was certain that I knew how to fly a real plane if someone would give me a chance.

My problem at that time was my age. At 10 it wasn’t very likely that anyone was going to loan me their plane so I could prove my point.

So, let’s make up a scenario. Let’s compare my experience as a young “pilot” flying a cardboard airplane with a Born-Again Believer who would rather try to keep all the Ten Commandments instead of letting the Holy Spirit guide him in his walk with the Lord.

Here’s the scenario:

I have a friend who is a licensed pilot, who we’ll call Jack..

Let’s say that I was 10 years old and I asked Jack to go up in a plane with me, to sit in the cockpit and be my instructor. And let’s say he agreed to do it. I would fly the plane but Jack would be at my side to help when I needed it.

In reality, Jack would be my co-pilot.

Now, I would have my instruction book on flying so I feel his being there wasn’t really necessary.

In my mind, his sitting next to me would be for “appearances sake” because, well, you know how people are when they see a 10 year old flying an airplane. They just lose all confidence in you.

But I have been studying the book and even have portions of it memorized.

So, Jack and I are in the cockpit, I take the joystick (the steering wheel), I rev up the engines and get us off the ground in fine shape.

We’re up in the air and the plane is leveled off. We’re really enjoying the view from up here. The people below look like ants and the cars look like toys.

We’re soaring like the eagles.

Pretty soon soaring like an eagle gets boring and this ten year old decides he wants to go a faster.

My co-pilot, Jack, advises me to continue to soar like an eagle. So I listen to him for awhile but later I want to try a dive and make the tail spin like they do in the movies.

Jack says the wings might break off.

I want to see how high we can go but Jack says we might pass out from lack of oxygen.

I want to try to do a loop the loop and Jack says, ‘you’re not ready for that yet . . . and neither am I”

I turn the plane to the east and Jack warns of a storm coming from that direction.

About this time I’m wondering, “How does he know all that stuff?”

I’m also beginning to wonder about the book of instructions because it never mentions any of these things. I get the book (Bible) back out and look through it to see if I missed something.

The first page says, “In the beginning, man wanted to fly”. Then it goes on to tell that there was a man (symbolic of God) from another country who came up with a plan so anyone who wanted could fly and soar like an eagle.

He passed his plan on to another man (Jesus) who agreed to work on it with him.

This second man dedicated his life to that purpose. He was the first to fly so others could follow. Then, one day he retired.

Now, the book said that he’s coming out of retirement some day. Until then, we’ve got the instruction book. The book says that until He comes back we need to have a co-pilot when we fly.

I’ve noticed something odd about the flying manual. There’s more emphasis on having another person with you than there is instructions on how to fly by yourself. There are plenty of rules and regulations but it says we need someone who will be with us if we ever get into trouble.