‘So, as the Holy Spirit says: ”Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.”’ (vv7–9) Hebrews 3:7–19
The Spirit divides soul and spirit. Simply put, the soul is understood as human reason, consciousness and perception.
The spirit is the life, or the breath of God within us. It is the spirit that we are invited to follow, for the spirit will always point us in God’s direction. Our soul, however, is inclined to serve our human interests rather than God’s plans for us.
Life is a series of challenges that demand we make decisions. We can call on past experience, human reason and common sense, all of which are useful aspects of our being.
However, once we have yielded to the reality that we are subject to an all-seeing, all-knowing and everywhere-present God, it is His directions we are encouraged to follow.
Leaving Oxford University, with an invitation to join a leading city accountancy firm, with an astute mentor to help develop my career, I chose to join a Christian youth organisation instead. One reason my father was furious with me. My only excuse was the call I felt from God through Scripture, which I could not avoid.
That Scripture remains critical to my understanding of my life calling, and much of it has been realised through my life to date. Responding to God’s Spirit revealed through God’s Word may demand we have to make difficult choices.
RELATED SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: 2 Sam. 23:1–7; Psa. 95; John 5:36–47; 1 Pet. 1:13–25.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: When God highlights something in the Bible, pause and pray. Ask God, ‘How shall I respond?’ We are to be led by the Spirit in all things.
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, help me to discern between my perspective and Your invitation. Amen.’
Photo by Alexandra Fuller & Alyssa Ledesma on Unsplash
