Isn’t it amazing how God can use some of the most basic, ordinary objects and events to teach us some of the most profound lessons? A couple of evenings ago, I went for a stroll with my 17 month old son down our rural country lane. Our road is a dirt road and, as you can imagine, the recent rains have left us with no shortage of pot-holes. As we began to walk, I noticed something fascinating—my son was irresistibly drawn to them. He ran to the first one, stood in it for a moment, and then (with a little squeal of delight) ran to the next one, and then the next one, and so on. He was going out of his way to hit each one, even as I was going to great lengths to avoid them. That’s when it hit me: what a perfect, yet simplistic, illustration of the contrast between walking after the flesh and being led by the Spirit of God! Someone who is led by the flesh (and its lustful appetites), will find themselves LOOKING FOR, and running to, the ‘pot-holes’ (metaphorically speaking) of sin, iniquity, and corruption. That is, they go out of their way to find them and take great delight in jumping into them when they do. On the other hand, those who are led by the Spirit of God will deliberately seek to avoid those ‘pot-holes’. If they should stumble into one, it is because they did so unawares and unwillingly—not because they sought it out. They are then quick to step out of it–no doubt disappointed–yet a little wiser than before and with their senses sharpened so that they may ever so carefully avoid the next one. Simply put, when we walk in the Spirit, sin becomes the exception (rather than the rule) of our lives (Galatians 5:16). Its once irresistible power and influence are broken and subdued by the dominion and might of God’s own Spirit abiding in the Believer.
As we headed back home from our walk, I carried my son for part of the way and then held his hand the rest of it……..he didn’t step in any pot-holes.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God
~Romans 8:14
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