It's in Your Yes!

Read |Psalm 23: 3; Romans 12: 1 - 2; 2 Corinthians 3: 18; Colossians 1: 9 - 14|

A Reflection on Psalm 23: 3
   "He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." (Psalm 23: 3, ESV)
Who leads?
It is Jesus Christ our Lord.
Who is led?
It is we the sheep of His pasture.
Where are we led?
In the path of righteousness--
The path whose start is with His holy command;
The path that begs our hearing to become belief;
The path that begs our believing to start walking.
Why are we led?
For His name's sake--
That He might have it as He purposed all along,
That we would be a people holy unto Him.

The Twenty-Third Psalm plays like a refrain in my heart. It is the song the LORD sings to me during high and low tides. It is a part of me, which this weekend I saw anew. This inspired word reveals our God to be a God of initiative. From start to finish He is on the move--making, leading and restoring. Yet, in the midst of all His action, in verse 3 comes an implicit invitation: "Will you let me lead you?" 

There is God's part and there is our part. God's part is in the provision of His guidance and leadership. He does not leave us, in our limited understanding, to make our own way. Instead, He speaks the Word and provides us with His Spirit, so that in our hearing we might be made wise to know the good and pleasing will of God. (Romans 12:2). He speaks the Word and provides us with His Spirit, so that in our hearing we might come to trust Him in spite of our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5). He speaks the Word and provides us with His Spirit, so that in our trusting we might come to obey it. (2 Timothy 3: 16 - 17). 

When we enter into our part by continuously saying yes to the leadership of Jesus Christ, we prove ourselves to truly be His sheep: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10: 27, ESV). It is in this cycle of hearing, believing and doing by His Spirit, that we come to enter the full experience of the abundant life--living free from the power of sin in our day-to-day lives and truly living as residents of His kingdom of righteousness. (Colossians 1: 13 - 14 & Titus 2: 11 - 14).  It is in this cycle that "We all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3: 18, AMP). We come to enter into the beautiful story He authored for our lives, before we even drew our first breath. (Psalm 139: 16).

Beloved, our God is  good and all that He does flows from the essence of who He is. He can never do wrong. This means you can trust Him to lead you! Will you let Him lead you? Will you give Him your yes continually? When you give Him your yes, your whole life will come to blossom from the seat of His goodness. 

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to trust you to lead us every day of our lives. Help us to see you for the good God you are, so that we may be quick to say yes to you in all things. We thank you for your finished work of the cross and for the continually work you do in us through your in dwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We give you our yes today. In Jesus' name, amen.