Day 263

Isaiah 33:13-36:22; Galatians 5:13-26; Psalm 64:1-10; Proverbs 23:23

Walk by the Spirit

When I received my license at age 16, there were no GPS or smart phones that could help me find my way around. Don’t feel too bad for me; I didn’t really need one at the time. I lived in a very small town that I had grown up in, and quite frankly, I’m sure that GPS would not have even found half of the roads I traveled on in a normal week. The guidance came from within, from a memory of having been there and done that hundreds of times.

We often have this same internal confidence that occurs in our own lives today. This thinking of the “do it yourself” mentality is what will many times take us down the wrong path. You see, when we allow the guidance of flesh to take over, it is one that is corrupted and missing many of roads we need to be traveling on.

Paul, in Galatians, gives us the solution to the paths that should not be traveled: GPS (Guided Per the Spirit). Okay, it might be a little hokey to think about it that way, but the reality is that we are challenged in the passage today to allow the Spirit to guide us. Flesh will lead us astray and can lead us into the giant list of sins in verses 20 & 21, which ultimately deny us “inheriting the Kingdom of God.” In other words, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life, we are sure to be lost.

Today I could not image not having a GPS. I’ve long been gone from the small town, and the greater city of Orlando is much more difficult to navigate than small town, Alabama.  Some might say I rely too much on a GPS to get somewhere, but I can say with confidence that when I get lost, the GPS gets me home every time. In the same way, when I’m unsure where to turn in life, turning to the Holy Spirit gives me guidance every time.

What are you turning to most today? Are you relying on Holy Spirit or flesh nature? God says to trust in His guidance, for “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

The Rev. Wes Sharp