Marginalia Monday -- Born of the Spirit

When I was seven or eight, my dad used to pay my sister and me to pick dandelions in the yard.  We got one penny for yellow dandelions and a whopping TWO cents for white, fluffy ones.  My dad paid us more for the white flowers (he called them weeds) because they were bursting with seeds ready to fly away with the slightest breeze.  My dad wanted us to pick the white, fluffy dandelions so these seeds could not spread to the rest of his yard and grow more dandelions wherever they landed.  He knew that the wind could carry that dandelion's life and create new life all around it.  

In John chapter 3, Jesus explained how the Holy Spirit works.  He said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  My dad couldn't see the wind, but he could see the dandelion seeds spreading and sprouting throughout his lawn.  We can't see the Holy Spirit, but we can see His work in our lives as He sends us out to spread the good news of everlasting life with God.