…those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. – Romans 8:14
This is one of those phrases or partial verses that makes me stop and wonder. In this case, wonder what does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God? There are several – actually four – characteristics that I am going to set out over the course of the next few weeks. Four because Advent is four Sundays long – not because there is anything magical about four.
Being led by the Spirit of God requires wholeheartedness because often being led by the Spirit of God is rather inconvenient. It rarely fits in with what is going on at the moment.
Earlier this fall, shortly after Halloween, I was sending a box of treats to my son in Afghanistan. As I looked at my packing job I noticed there was a lot of space around the items I was sending him. I also noticed I had a huge bowl of leftover Halloween candy consisting mostly of eyeball gum and other assorted small pieces. So I picked up the bowl and poured the contents into the box. The pieces skittered into all of the open spaces and corners of the box, literally fitting in around the main items.
Which describes the problem. Being led by anyone, let alone the Spirit of God, means their agenda, their will, is the center of my life. It isn’t the Halloween candy that fills in the leftover spaces. It is the main item. I must decide that the prompting and the leading of the Spirit of God will be primary.
And that is a heart decision, which is where the wholeheartedness comes in. Kinda being led by the Spirit of God is like kinda loving someone. Either I am choosing to love them or I am not. I have to commit. With my whole heart.
But make no mistake, being led is a recurring decision. I make that decision by my choices and subsequent actions everyday. Joshua sums it up pretty well when he says to the Israelites: Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. [Joshua 24:15]
I’ll write more about Joshua in the upcoming posts. Joshua exhibited the kind of wholeheartedness that I want to choose everyday.
Just Sayin' 