There are times when I am at home trying to get things accomplished – like doing laundry, cleaning up dishes, straightening the house or working on the Sunday service – that I find myself walking back and forth throughout the house. Sometimes I just stand in one place uncertain which way to go and what to do next. The many demands that I face pull me in so many directions I don’t know where to go.
The same can be true in our faith life. We can feel pulled in so many directions – drawn this way by our jobs, that way by our family, this way by what we desire, and that way by what we ought to do in God’s kingdom – that we end up going nowhere. If we will grow in our faith, if we will accomplish anything good, we must have a clear path and direction for how to move forward.
This passage from Galatians gives us some guidance in how to approach our faith. How should we live? What will we do when we live by the Spirit? What is the relationship between the Spirit and the sinful nature?
The sinful nature we must confront is the sum of all of our selfish desires. The sinful nature is the human side of us, that part of who we are that seeks gratification in material possessions, social acceptance, financial gains, and physical pleasure. We can be tempted and lured by all the earthly happiness that draws us away from godly things.
But when we try to straddle that line of living as others do, but also trying to live as children of God, we can find ourselves going nowhere. The struggle between our sinful nature and holy aim leaves us stuck in one place.
What we are to “want” to do is to follow the Spirit of God. We should desire to be in step with the Holy Spirit, the love of God, the goodness of imitating Christ. Once we make that decision we have a clear path to follow. We can then move forward in our faith journey walking in step with the Spirit and growing in faith.
Let us walk in step with the Spirit, moving as we are led by God. We will move away from the sinful nature and closer to holy perfection.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you follow the leading of the Spirit?
