Keeping in Step with the Spirit
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do… If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16-17, 25
We have a new member in our family: a Golden Retriever puppy named Goose. Some of you may know him… he’s a Greystone Puppy (summer 2023). Goose is a sweet, chill, loving, giant puppy. He’s sitting with me right now as I type this… he’s the best.
Goose’s biggest flaw is he’s scared of everything. Like everything. He’s our guard dog who’s afraid of his own shadow (literally he’s scared of shadows). Recently we’ve been working on leash-training because Goose has gotten himself in some scary situations when he tried to pull away from us at times out of fear. Once he ran away because he was spooked by a loud noise, and we found him a half hour later hung up in the woods, caught in a thicket of branches. He was bleeding, lonely and very, very afraid. It really was a sad scene.
He’s doing a lot better these days, and the leash training has really helped. He’s had to learn to trust us, to walk with us, to stay near us, to know that we will take care of him. He has to learn our voices and listen when we give him the right commands. When he runs, it always ends up hurting him in the end. To be near us is far better for him.
I’ve always struggled to understand what the Apostle Paul meant by “keep in step with the Spirit” in Galatians 5. But Goose’s leash training has given me a good picture of what this text actually teaching. Paul is reminding his Christian friends that there is a battle within all of us — what he calls the battle between the flesh and the spirit. It’s the battle between our sin nature and our redeemed, Spirit-filled, sin-forgiven nature.
Why do we at times do the things we don’t want to do (as Paul says in the verses above)? Why do we struggle with the same sins over and over again? Why do we struggle to love God with our whole hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Part of the reason why, according to these verses, is because we aren’t keeping in step with the Spirit of God. In a way, we are running away from our Master. We think we know best, so we do what makes sense to us only. We don’t listen to God’s Word. We don’t pray. We don’t fight sin. And where does it take us? To places where we feel lonely and afraid. A little bit like Goose.
So how do we keep in step with the Spirit? We have to learn to walk with God. To stay near Him through His Word and through His Church. We have to learn to hear His voice and obey His commands. When we run it only hurts us in the end. But when we stay near, we can experience freedom and hope and peace in our walk with Him, and even in our battle with sin.
“But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” Psalm 73:28