“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1 NLT)
While there are nearly 70 uses of the term “led” in the King James Version of the Bible, not all of them have reference to being led by the Spirit of God, which is critical. Being led, in and of itself, can be amoral, in the sense it can be either good or bad. I can feel led by my growling stomach to get a pizza or a sub sandwich, which may have no spiritual impact or importance, but what if I’m led by the Holy Spirit to speak to someone at the restaurant about Jesus? That could have eternal implications.
Too often we charge through our day without any thought of being led by the Lord, we’re simply doing what we do, when we do it, almost by rote, not even aware of the eternal implications of what we do, say, or think. But as a Jesus follower why would we dare to NOT have a heart tuned to Jesus, to the eternal implications of what we’re investing our time in? If it doesn’t have some potential to touch someone’s life for the Lord, why would we do it?
“What if I’m just going to a doctor’s appointment, or to get a haircut, or to the grocery, to the dentist, or to work, to school, out for a walk, or a thousand other places we go without giving any thought to going except to get there and back in one piece?” Nearly every activity of a believer’s life is an avenue of opportunity to be used by the Lord in a divine encounter. It’s rare we don’t have some interaction with another human being, wherever we go.
Whether our spiritual ear is tuned to hear the Lord’s prompting may be another story, but the Scripture prompts us in 2 Timothy to: “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not.” I’m reminded of Wendell Berry’s words when he wrote: “I am an ignorant pilgrim, crossing a dark valley. And yet for a long time, looking back, I have been unable to shake off the feeling that I have been led…” What if those “meaningless” encounters were actually divine appointments that we missed because we weren’t paying attention to the Spirit’s still, small voice?
What if rather than being tuned to the voice of the Spirit, we’re more concerned about things that have no spiritual significance? Anytime our life impacts another human being we should be sensitive to how the Lord would lead us to interact with them. It’s not unusual to be in line waiting to check out, or waiting to go in to see the doctor or any number of other scenarios and the Lord opens the door for a conversation that could have an eternal impact.
The Lord has prompted me to speak with someone in a room while waiting for my wife to come out of surgery; at an auto dealership waiting to have my car serviced; at restaurants waiting to be seated; on airplanes and in many other situations. The clock is ticking and the end is closing in on us very swiftly; we cannot be unprepared or unwilling to act when the Lord prompts us. Numerous times in Scripture the Lord instructs different ones to go someplace, essentially asking them to drop whatever they were doing and go right at that moment. What a privilege we miss when we’re not listening intently.
Too often I sense I’ve been that ignorant pilgrim traveling through life without a clue that I’m being led by the Spirit, and I’ve missed clear opportunities to speak life into someone’s dying soul. We must be about our Father’s business and keep our spiritual “ear” pressed against His loving heart.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
