Acts 8:14-20 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
The Holy Spirit is a Gift, plain and simple. We do not control Him, though often we try. We tend to want to be in control, and to control others for what we want. Simon wanted not only the Holy Spirit, like every one else - He wanted to ability to "dispense" the Holy Spirit, as if He was not a Person, and as if He was a power he could control and command. Before we dwell on how foolish this was, how do we seek to control the Holy Spirit? By ignoring Him, shutting Him out, and thinking, saying and doing things with no regard for His presence in our lives right now. We have control issues. What we really need is to relinquish to Him full control.
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