In Touch

Dear Young Disciples,

I put on my helmet and tightened the strap. Then I climbed onto the 4-wheeler and waited for instructions from the leader of the ATV tour. “The rain has made things a little slick today,” he told us, “but we should have a good time.”

This will be fun, I told myself. But a few minutes later I wasn’t so sure. Perched at the top of an impossibly steep, rutted, twisting, muddy trail, I wished I hadn’t come.

Somehow I made it down, but as the trail continued, I felt more and more uneasy. With every new challenge, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Then the leader motioned to me to follow him. As he sped off, I stuck right behind. Up and down slippery slopes, across rushing streams, along the muddy, rutted trail—I followed exactly in his tracks. It was wonderful!

In fact, after a while, I started feeling so confident that I began choosing my own way. Of course, it didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t do so well when I lost sight of the leader.

As I zoomed back in right behind him, I thought about our walk with the Lord. When we are first converted, we know how much we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But later on, it’s easy to become overconfident—to forget that our need is as great as ever.

On our own, we’re bound to make a mess of things. In fact, if we want to make a success of our Christian life, we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit every minute of the day!

Your friend,