Scratching it out

A minister was sitting at the kitchen table working at writing a sermon. His young daughter came in and asked what he was doing. He said, “I'm writing a sermon for this coming Sunday morning.” The daughter asked, “How do you know what to write?” He replied, “The Spirit leads me as I write the words.” She thought for a moment and said, “If the Spirit is leading you, why are you scratching out so much of it?”

Now the scripture does indicate that the Spirit will help guide us if we open ourselves up to God. Paul writes in Romans 8:14, “for all who are led by God's Spirit are God's Children”. He also mentions in Galatians 5:18 that, “...if you are being led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

I'm afraid we forget it far too often, but we really should understand that when we become Christians we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives. “Peter answered them, “Every one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.” (Acts 2:38).

The obvious question then is, “How does the Spirit lead us today?” We are led by the word of God in conjunction with the Spirit who dwells in us. The apostle Paul shared these thoughts with us in Ephesians 3:2-6, “Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus words fills and and leads us as we read the things written by His apostles. It can have an amazing and wonderful effect on our lives and direct our steps if we allow it.

The problem is that many times we “scratch out” the parts we don't like or agree with. In doing some reading “online” I was amazed at the number of people who said we should not believe everything Paul wrote, basically because it went against today's accepted social and moral standards. You tell me, who is right, God or man? What (or who) is going to lead you today. For me, I choose God and His Word!