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Imagine we are riding a tandem bike with God everywhere we go — looking for where he wants to steer the bicycle.  We need to listen to the new voice of the Holy Spirit that wants to break into our lives and the lives of those around us out of the chaos of this world.

Jesus says he was always about his father God’s business, getting coaching and enlightenment from the Holy Spirit as to what to do next.  We see this in his encounter with a Samaritan woman in John 4:4-26.

Jesus is walking through an area where Jews were not welcome.  He asks a woman at a well to give him a drink.  Because of their different races, she says it’s not appropriate.  Jesus responds by telling her about the “living water” of a new life he offers people.  He then tells her some personal things that he would not have known unless the Holy Spirit had revealed it to him.  She is so excited that she tells everyone in the town.

Like Jesus, life often puts us in situations we don’t really like.  Unending to-do lists and obligations may be viewed as the bane of our existence.  However, we can start looking at our to-do list as a to-enjoy list, if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, listening to what he would have us do next.

Someone told me he was driving home and kept having this thought to go to Walmart.  He didn’t need anything at Walmart, but he could not shake the thought.  He relents, heads to Walmart, and parks in the back because he is frustrated with this thought he cannot let go.  As he heads into the store he sees an elderly gentleman on the ground who is blue in the face.  His first thought is the man needs oxygen and goes straight to the only other car parked in that area.  It’s unlocked, and a tank of oxygen is there.  He gives it to the man who then wakes up.

If we listen to the Holy Spirit and are obedient, God will place us in the path of other people where God wants to use us to help others out of a jam — physically, emotionally or spiritually.

Jesus saw the gold in the heart of the woman at the well.  We need to listen to the new voice of the Holy Spirit as we ride in tandem with him, calling out the gold in others, and connecting them to new life in Jesus.