Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
Paul, in writing to a church that was dealing with the Jewish influence of the Law of Moses, reminded them to let the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, be their guide in living their lives. This is an excellent reminder for each of us to let the Holy Spirit be our guide in living our lives. The sinful nature is always at war with the Spirit and the Spirit is leading us in the opposite direction of where the sinful nature is trying to lead us. If we live by the Spirit we will live a life that is so far above what we think we can, and that life will always be the opposite of how our sinful nature wants to live. The churches in Galatia were constantly being influenced to go back to the Jewish traditions and Paul reigned them back into a life that is led by the Holy Spirit. Morally, the Law was good, but the best way to live a growing sanctified life was the Holy Spirit leading each individual. The Spirit has to be our guide or we will get off track and begin to go backwards.
There is a story of a lady who was following a snow plow and what happened as a result. A lady driving a car became lost in a snowstorm…. She didn’t panic, however, because she remembered what her dad had once told her. “If you ever get stuck in a snowstorm, just wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it.” Sure enough, pretty soon a snow plow came by, and she started to follow it. She followed the plow for about forty-five minutes. Finally, the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing. And she explained that her dad had told her if she ever got stuck in a snowstorm, to follow a plow. The driver nodded and said, “Well, I’m done with the Wal-Mart parking lot, do you want to follow me over to Best Buy now?”
Know who or what you are following and make sure your guide is reliable or you may never get out of the parking lot. The Holy Spirit will never lead you astray, so let the Spirit be your guide and you will always get where you need to be. The best guide for each of us is the Holy Spirit and Jesus was very generous in giving us our helper, the Holy Spirit. John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren
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