Are You Sensitive and Obedient?

The other day, my son came to me to confess that he had hit his sister while swinging a hockey stick around the living room.

"Do you think that was a good choice?" I asked. 

"No", he said simply. 

"Why did you have a hockey stick in the living room?" This is clearly against our rules. 

The typical child response came back at me. "I don't know," he said. Then he surprised me. "Mom, I wish I had a Jiminy Cricket. I need a conscience to tell me not to do bad stuff." 

I silently laughed at his logic, but I asked, "did you hear a voice in your head that said don't do that"? "Yes" he said. 

"Well", I replied, "that voice you heard is better than a conscience. That is the Holy Spirit. God inside of you, talking to you and warning you not to do something. You need to pay attention to that voice and follow what it is telling you."Satisfied, I finished my teaching moment for the day. 

"But Mom, swinging the stick was a lot of fun" he said, so innocently.

The story is humorous now, but I think it is a real issue. I know the rules. I know I am not supposed to do something. But when it comes to obedience, there are times that I fall short.

Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. -Deuteronomy 6:3

Notice it says hear and obey. It is not enough to know the right thing, we actually have to DO the right thing. 

Recognizing the sin is the first step to becoming right with God. From there, we need to confess that sin to our perfect High Priest, Jesus. We need to ask for forgiveness and repent (which means we are going to work at avoiding that sin in the future). We are not left with our sin hanging over us. God is so good to forgive us every time we come to Him with a heart that is full of truth and honesty. The only way that we can be in relationship with our Holy God is if we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus. God's light and our darkness cannot dwell in the same place. (1 John 1:5-10) 

That is all well and good, you may be saying, but what about the obeying part?

Well, we have help there too. God gave us the Holy Spirit, our own Jiminy Cricket. (John 14:16-18) If we are in true relationship with Christ, the Spirit will guide us, teach us and warn us before we do things that are against the will of God.

We need to listen and be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. But, it doesn't end there, we also need to follow in the direction that he is leading.


Lord, I am a sinner and I am not good enough on my own to be in Your presence. Thank you for sending your Son to cover my iniquities. Please make me more sensitive to sin in my life so that I can avoid it and remain in relationship with you. Thank you for loving me and providing me with everything I need to be better than I am. In Jesus name, Amen.