Winter is time for Montana’s Race to the Sky. It is a dogsledding event. People come from all over the country to be part of it.
On opening day, the dogs are very excited. They know it is time to race! They jump up and down and bark all at once. It is very noisy. But each team knows the voice of its own master. When the master calls, “Hike!” or “Alright!” the dogs race down the snowy trail, pulling their sled behind them for the next 350 miles.
Only the voice of their master can guide them at turns. If they are supposed to turn right, they hear, “Gee!” When they are to go left, they hear, “Haw!” Stop is “Whoa!” The lead dog must know all the commands. All the other dogs must learn to follow their leader and to listen to their master’s commands.
If we have Jesus in our hearts, HE is our Master. He tells us how to love and obey God and how to love one another. He does this through the Holy Spirit, our Helper. The Bible tells us, Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ”This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. (Isaiah 30:21, NLT)
How do we learn to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit? We learn by reading the Bible and learning about the things God wants us to do. If we memorize verses in the Bible, we will learn to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice more easily. He speaks to our hearts as we learn God’s love language to us.
Have you ever been tempted to do wrong? Maybe you are tempted to be mean to someone because of how they treated you. If you have memorized Ephesians 4:32, your heart may hear these words: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. That is the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart.
The Apostle Paul said, You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT) While we are learning to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice for ourselves, we can learn from grown-up Christians. They can tell us the way to live, like the lead dog in a team tells the other dogs where to run, because they already know the commands. We can imitate older Christians as they imitate Jesus. That’s how we learn to be winners for Jesus!
Until our next Campfire, I’m sending you happy hugs!
Montana Gramma