Were you to question a number of people as to what in their opinion was the greatest mistake a person can make in life, you would receive a variety of answers. Answers such as: My greatest mistake was:

• To treat schooling as a joke ... "I wasted my time at school."
• To take up a dead-end job ... "I have no prospects at all."
• To take up drugs ................. "I ruined my health."
• To trust the wrong people ... "I was hopelessly let down."
• To marry the wrong person ."It's been a living hell."
• To buy the wrong house .... "It cost me the earth." etc.

Mistakes these may be; but there is a far greater mistake we mortals can make. It is grieving the Holy Spirit. This is a blunder of enormous magnitude and, sad to say, millions of apparently successful folk are making it every day. Man is a trio of body, mind and spirit. Meaningful life is not possible if any one of these three components is missing. The world is bristling with information about the body and its needs. The mind is also well catered for in our schools, colleges and libraries. But the needs of the spirit are badly neglected. Perhaps one person in every hundred gives thought each day to his/her spiritual needs. And even then, when spiritual guidance is sought, the wrong spirit is followed and the wrong books are read. The results of this mistake are confusion, chaos, unhappiness and often - suicide. Consider one of ancient Israel's mistakes.

In other words they made a major mistake in doubting YaHuWaH. To disbelieve a person is tantamount to calling him/her a liar. No one likes being disbelieved. It's an insult. To disbelieve Elohim is infinitely worse! It's a sin of enormous magnitude.

The ignorant and inexperienced need guidance. But who are we to follow? Whose advice are we to take? And how can we be sure that that advice we take will lead to success, to happiness and to life everlasting? Here is good advice from two of the wisest men who ever lived:

But how are we to follow YAHUSHUA when we cannot see Him? It is one thing to follow someone you can hear and see; but quite another matter to follow an invisible person. Yes, how can one follow YaHuWaH and His Son when we cannot see them? The answer is:

• Believe YaHuWaH 's Word (the Bible). It is Life's User Guide and your spiritual chart.
• Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He works through your conscience.

And so, like a captain would steer his ship across the trackless ocean using chart and compass, you will reach the Kingdom of Heaven. Faith and Obedience are the first steps in making life a success. Taking those steps is by far the most important in life.

But even obedient believers have problems. What do we do then? To whom should we turn? The answer is: call for help; pray to YaHuWaH. Failing to call for help is as bad a mistake as getting into trouble in the first place. Failing to call for help is evidence of either ignorance or pride.

To follow YaHuWaH and His Son YAHUSHUA in your own strength is virtually impossible. You need power, spiritual power - from on high. The Most High will provide the spiritual motivation and power to all who truly want to follow Him. He will place His Holy Spirit in them and make the impossible possible. Here are a few examples of men who were motivated and empowered by the Spirit of YaHuWaH and who accomplished seemingly impossible tasks.

What does this mean? It means that no one can achieve anything of real value unless it is accomplished by the Holy Spirit of YaHuWaH working in and through him. All other accomplishments, no matter how marvelous and popular they may appear in the sight of men, are temporal and of little account. In view of this staggering fact let us re-arrange our priorities in life and:

• Recognize our utter inability to accomplish anything of real value in our own strength.
• Recognize that the source of holiness, wisdom, judgement, success, power and happiness is the Most High. He is the fountain-head from which flows everything of any value. It is by Faith in Him we link to that source.
• Determine that, aided by the Holy Spirit, we will obey Divine Law in order that we might not sin; but live successful and meaningful lives.