Being Led By God

In Romans 8:14, the Apostle Paul tells us that “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (NLT). Being led by the Spirit is a result of being a child of God. Another way of thinking about this is that the evidence of being a child of God is that we will be led by God. How? In what ways? And what prevents being led by God?

In my experience, the catch is that I must be willing to slow down and listen. The world, the flesh and our enemy work so hard to convince us that we need to keep moving at the speed of information. We live in a performance-oriented society that values business. We often keep going too quickly to listen carefully. Or maybe the things God wants to change in us create pain when we face them… so we avoid it with activity. Which is it for you?
 
Jen and I used to have a large Bouvier des Flandres named Anna. She was a big dog and had so much hair that people would literally mistake her for a black bear. She had an intimidating bark too! So, we worked hard to train her to listen to our voice, obediently walk next to us and not scare people with her bark. In her early years, we tried a shock collar. I had a button that I could press which would give her a little shock (ever stick your tongue on a 9-volt battery?). 

One day, we were visiting my parents (who had no fence), and Anna started running full force toward a neighbor barking at full volume. I pressed the button… to no avail. She merely kept running at full speed, yelping a bit but threatening to eat our neighbor! Her focus was fixed, and I, her master, had a hard time getting her attention.

Thankfully, over time, Anna learned to listen. She learned who was in charge and how to relate to others. She would walk so closely and listen so carefully I could even lay her leash over her back as we were walking! She would listen to voice commands and thankfully never ate any neighbors. But this all happened over time, in the context of relationship.

Romans 8 tells us that being led as a child of God means we learn to listen to God. And learning to be led by God is proof of being a child of God. According to verse 12, God has removed the power of sin, death and the flesh. Paul says we are not obligated to the flesh; this means we don’t owe it anything! The ransom price has been paid in full! We are now both free and responsible to set our mind on the things of the Spirit which will result in living according to the Spirit. We submit to God (our new Master) and actively put to death the deeds of the flesh. And over time, in the course of relationship with our loving Heavenly Father and others, we become more like Jesus… proof that we have been led by God. 

So, are you growing in being led by God? Do you get quiet enough to listen to Him? Just like with our dog Anna, you can’t be led by God if you are charging ahead on your own. Learning to listen to God is crucial for a close relationship with Him.