The Dove of the Holy Spirit
Why is the Holy Spirit compared to a dove? Doves, especially turtle doves that are so common in the Middle East, don’t fight. They are sensitive birds who are wary of humans and don’t like loud noise. They are not territorial and so won’t attack other birds that encroach. Turtle doves can’t be trained by humans and are faithful to their partner for life. Think for a moment how each of these qualities speaks in some way of the Holy Spirit – refusing to fight, sensitive, not territorial, unwilling to be changed by humans and faithful.
R.T. Kendall tells the story of a missionary couple who were stationed in Jerusalem. Settling in to their new surroundings, they noticed a dove had taken up residence in the eaves of their home. After a time they also noticed that the dove would fly away if there were any loud noises in the home – a door banging, loud music, raised voices. So they set about making sure they did nothing to scare the dove away.
The Bible speaks of another dove we must similarly be careful not to scare away – the dove of the Holy Spirit. Remember when Jesus was baptised and ‘the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove’ (Luke 3:22).
Paul wrote: ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed …’ (Ephesians 4:30). In that passage he mentions a number of areas that grieve the Spirit – lying (5:25), anger (5:26), taking what isn’t yours (5:28), bitterness (5:31), slander (5:31), sexual immorality (6:4) and foul language (6:4). There was an old Puritan saying that the Holy Spirit comes in by foot but leaves by horseback.
Make the Holy Spirit your life-long friend. Live a life of increasing sensitivity to Him. Learn what pleases and what displeases Him. Little by little bring everything in your life into line with Him and you’ll find every day marked by an extraordinary, divine sweetness.