Have you ever been someplace you were not supposed to be at a time when you were supposed to be somewhere else and doing something other than what you were doing in that wrong place?

I remember when one of my older brothers skipped school to go joyriding with friends, and they had gone downtown to have fun. They were driving up and down the main street, mooning people out of the window of the car they were in.   My older brother’s turn came up, so he pulled down his pants and stuck his bare bottom out the window.  As far as he knew, he had a great time laughing with his friends and mooning people for most of that day.  But when he got home, he discovered one of the people he had mooned was our mother.  So much for a really fun day.

If he had been at school where he was meant to be doing his studies as he should have been, he would have never mooned our mother and gotten himself into trouble.

He’s not the only one who has ever allowed himself to get distracted from his real purpose and discovered it results in hardship.

King David in the Bible experienced this too.  You see, it was at a time when kings went to war, but David decided he would send out his men and stay home relaxing this time.  Since David had already said no to his purpose and yes to something that was not his purpose, he was already set up for trouble.

David was out on his rooftop when he noticed a beautiful woman bathing. Since his ability to say no to the wrong thing was already weakened by his first choice, he found himself saying yes to another bad thing and had her brought up to him.  It turned out this woman was the wife of one of his loyal warriors, who was where he was supposed to be fighting a battle for David.

Later David learned that the woman had become pregnant, and since he had already made two bad choices, he scrambled to cover his tracks with another wrong choice.  He had them send the warrior home, hoping the man would spend time with his wife and think the child, when born, was his.   But the warrior loyal to David slept at the palace door, refusing to be with his wife and declaring he was dedicated to the king and should be at war.  When David noticed his scheme wasn’t going to work, he sent the man back to the battle with a note for the general instructing that this man be sent to the front line of battle, and then everyone else retreat so he could be killed.

In that very true story, one of the greatest kings in Israel’s history reveals that one poor decision of not being where he should be and doing what he ought to be doing can cause a landslide of bad choices that can hurt not only onself but a lot of other people.  David created a question in the heart and mind of his military leader based on his actions, the woman’s husband, a respected, loyal soldier, lost his life, and later the baby she gave birth to died.   All this because at a time when kings go out to war, David remained at home.

New Covenant living is about doing life according to the Spirit.  It is being submitted and surrendered to the will of the Spirit.  But like David, if we say no to what the Holy Spirit reveals is ours to be and to do, we set ourselves to struggle with saying no to other things because we refused to say yes to the right thing to start with.

Our yes to the Holy Spirit, even in the smallest of things, is important because it sets us up for the amazing things He wants to do in and through us that will not only bless us but bless others.  What we choose to say yes to is much more important than we sometimes realize.  The simplest obedience to the Holy Spirit leading can save us from a lot more trouble than we might be able to perceive.  It also sets us up for surprise blessings the Holy Spirit has lined up for us.

I encourage you today to be in tune with the Holy Spirit as you go through your day and say yes to however He wishes to lead you.  It is never a bad decision when we submit ourselves to the will of the Holy Spirit, who leads us to both will and do of God’s good pleasure.