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Led By God

If a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe sixty-two words that give you a picture are worth something too.

When God rescued his people from Egypt, we read, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people” (Exodus 13:21-22).

I like the picture of God always being in front of them. They were not alone. Night and day, God was guiding their path and protecting them along the way. There was no guessing. They simply followed and went where God wanted them to go.

What if that were said of us? What would our lives look like if we could truly say that we were being “led by God”? I have a hunch that we would end up looking a lot like Jesus. Think about the way he lived. What was his agenda? What would his appointment book or his “to do list” for any given day look like? I am just guessing here, but I think it would be blank. It seems that Jesus lived his life simply responding to God and to the people around him. He healed the sick. He gave sight to a blind man who asked for help. He talked to an outcast woman that he met at a well. He raised a young man to life after meeting his heartbroken mother. It seems that Jesus’ only plan was to be “led by God” and to take advantage of the opportunities that he was given each and every day. In fact, he underlined this attitude several times when he said things like, “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me” (John 8:28).

“So God led the people” (Exodus 13:18). That is not just a comment about the past, but a promise for the future. The pillar of cloud and fire may be gone, but the God who guides and protects his people is still here. We simply have to listen and trust him and he will lead us home.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

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