The other day I was in a bulk food store with my wife Lily. We needed to buy more oat bran cereal for me.  I cook up oat bran every morning and have it with half a grapefruit. I enjoy the grapefruit and I tolerate the oat bran. I’ve been doing this for years (apparently it’s very healthy) … not very tasty, but healthy.  But, I’m getting away from my story.

We were in Bulk Barn, and Lily had a discount coupon but had to spend $10 to use it.  We started looking in all the bins and I started salivating.  The candy looked SO good.  We could have spent $10 in about 30 second and been out of there. I just kept saying, “Hey, these would be nice”, and Lily just kept on walking.  I was gravitating towards the chocolate covered almonds, or the wine gums, but then the chocolate covered raisins, and even the allsorts looked appetizing.

Lily, realized she had to get me thinking in another direction fast because buying candy seemed to be the only thing on my mind.  She started suggesting chips instead, but not chips that any normal human being would like.  She pointed to the kale chips and the hummus chips!  Now, I haven’t tried them – and I never will – but what amazed me was how those products could even get to market!

When it was all said and done, I settled for some honey-roasted peanuts … not my first choice, but I was going to buy something and this seemed to be the better choice:  tasty, but not too damaging.

Here’s the thing:  I have this sin nature in me that pulls me toward sin.  I could blame it all on Satan but the fact is, I’m pretty good at sinning on my own.  Like the candy at the store, there is a pull towards it.  In order to keep me from giving in to that temptation I need some kind of help, like Lily whispering in my ear, “No”, to the strawberry marshmallows.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does; it’s His role.  He is with us all the time, but He won’t overpower us.  We can ignore Him or say “no” to Him very easily.  The key for me is to listen to Him more, discipline myself to hear Him, and follow what He tells me.

It’s not easy at times; my wants can be strong.  But the more I listen to what the Holy Spirit says when I want to sin, the greater the chance I have of avoiding giving in to my sin nature.  This battle will always be with me, but I will get better at it if I can make a habit of listening to Him.

It comes down to one temptation at a time.  Just win that one and then another.  And if you can discipline yourself to win a few – even a few in a row – you will start a pattern of giving in to the Holy Spirit instead of your wants.

Back in the Bulk Barn, even the Popeye Cigarettes started to look good to me.  (They now call them Popeye “candy sticks” so the kids don’t get the wrong message, but they can’t fool me, they’re the best tasting cigarettes you can buy.)  Anyways, at least I managed to leave the store without them.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: What do you find to be most difficult about listening to the Holy Spirit?  Leave a comment below.