Soon after a tornado disaster in the US, I saw aerial photographs of its path. Entire neighborhoods were flattened. From the high angle of the photographer’s shot, all of the wood and debris looked like scattered, splintered toothpicks, tossed violently over a wide swath of city blocks. Devastation. Wind provides an immense source of power (which is why wind- generated energy receives so much research). Whenever wind runs wild, however, it can be a frightening and destructive force.

Luke described the Spirit of God as sounding like a “mighty windstorm” (Acts 2:2) as He “filled the house where [the disciples] were sitting” (Acts 2:2). And the Holy Spirit came with power and energy. People from all the gathered nations began to hear the gospel spoken in their native tongue. The people of the city, some sneering and some marveling, stopped in their tracks to hear Peter’s explanation of the phenomenon that had taken place. The apostles, empowered by the Spirit, began to do “many miraculous signs and wonders” (Acts 2:43).

The most powerful repercussion of the Spirit’s effects was the radical new community that emerged. This community shared their possessions, yielded their lives to the teaching that Jesus had left behind, and began to live out the ethic required of all His disciples (Acts 2:43-47). This new community (what would come to be known as the church) ate meals together. They worshiped. They sang to God. They cared for the sick. They began to be a new kind of people—the Jesus kind.

Writer Inagrace Dietterich captured this well: “When the Holy Spirit transforms the life and practice of Christian communities, they demonstrate that God’s promised future has been set in motion.” We still encounter the Spirit’s wind. And the Spirit still invites us to follow.

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Kings19:1-21