Thursday, July 5, 2018

Your Daily Slice


Tammuz 22
WHO Leads You?



Then יהושע [Yeshua] was LED up by the Spirit …” (Mat 4:1 ISR, emphasis and insert mine)


When our foals are newborn, it is our custom to halter them within the first 24 hours after birth.  Once they are haltered, we then teach them to lead, to follow along with us wherever we are going.  Through trial and error over a 25+ year period, we have found that this is the best time to teach a young horse to submit to a halter and lead rope.  Horses grow very fast, and when they are 6 months old (at the time of weaning), if they have not been taught previously how to lead, they can be a handful.  Fast forward to a horse that is now two years old, weighing anywhere from 800 to 1000 lbs, and the problems increase a hundred fold.  It is so much easier to accomplish all of this when they are young, and easier to handle.

The first time we try to ‘lead’ our foals is always somewhat of a ‘tug of war’:  my husband will be pulling on the lead rope, and the foals will be all but sitting down on their behinds, trying not to give in.  Eventually, the pressure behind their ears from the halter will become too uncomfortable, and they will take that first step.  From that point on, it all becomes so much easier.

Us foolish children, are we not the same? One element that most of us tend to forget, not only in our natural lives, but especially in our spiritual lives, is that in order to be ‘led’, we must first learn to follow.  With Torah as our ‘halter’, we kick and scream, pull back and park on our behinds, and all the while that pressure is being applied where it is needed.  The ‘halter’ is not a bad thing; it is so that we might be taught to ‘lead’, and how to ‘follow’.  And once we take that first step, the rest will all fall into place.

One of the most famous Psalms is the 23rd Psalm, known as the Shepherd’s Psalm.  It speaks of the Shepherd’s tender love and personal care for the sheep than mean everything to Him, and it is an example of our Father’s love and care for us.  Nonetheless, He is the Shepherd, and we are the sheep; He ‘leads’, and we follow.  In this Psalm, we can see that the Shepherd is always looking for the best pasture and the best water, searching out any predators, and dangers to avoid, always from the vantage point of being in the leadHe leads me in paths of righteousness For His Name’s sake.” (Ps 23:3 ISR)



For as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, these are sons of Elohim. (Rom 8:14 ISR)


©2018



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