Do You Have The Sense Of A Good Mule?

First I want to say the title of this blog came from a Deacon at our church who lead our service Sunday. I found this topic to be so interesting, and also I could see right away where he was going with it. My Daddy used to plow with a mule, and my Papaw too. I remember seeing my Papaw do this. I remember the blinders they put on them to keep them from being distracted, and I also remember my Daddy telling me a few times I was as stubborn as a mule! In Matthew 7:13-14 the Bible tells us," Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Think about it, just as the mule has to trust the farmer and obey his commands to keep plowing that row straight and narrow, we must follow God's commands and walk the straight and narrow path to our reward in Heaven. First of all we must be willing to be used by the Father. We, as Christians, need to put on blinders to this world of sin, keeping our eyes and our walk on the narrow path to live for Christ. When we look away from God we can get pulled into the wrong pathway for sure. Temptation from so many sources comes our way when we look away from God. Just as the old mule drifts to the left or the right making the rows ugly and not straight our giving in to temptation makes our lives ugly and God has to speak to our hearts to bring us back into fellowship with him. How many times has pride and arrogance taken over in our life, thinking we do not need help, we got it all figured out, to wind up in a mess again? I know discouragement can come from many sources in our world, which makes me drift off the narrow path for God. We have to remember that nothing is too big for God! So many things such as the burdens we carry, whether they are physical, mental, or financial can cause us to have fear, then bitterness can come into our life. I also see us compromising our principles. All of these things lead to us getting off the path living for God. Are we using our gifts God gave us for him? Are we taking off the blinders that protect us from this world of sin? Are we stubborn, and will not follow God's commands for our life? I am afraid my sense at times is that of a bad mule, one who gets caught up in me, thinking I can do all of it on my own, and the Lord quickly reminds me I am nothing without him. I love the song about when I could not come to him, he came to me. There is also a song that says I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus, I cannot bear my burdens alone. This is so true. It is time for me to wait on God to tell me what to do. I need to stop, wait, and listen to his will for my life. Will I have the sense of a good mule, or an old stubborn one? What about you? Here are some scripture to help: Proverbs 3:5-6, 1 Samuel 16:7, Deuteronomy 1:21, and Colossians 1:6. God bless all who read.