Walk by 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."  Galatians 5:16-17

This is the memory verse that is next up to bat for me on my phones nifty scripture memory application.  Which means that I typed it in myself some weeks ago, though I don't remember what my thoughts were at the time.  When it came up on the screen Saturday morning, I was struck by how simple and yet how powerful of a message is contained in these two little verses.  At first glance, it seems to be a simple prohibition against living in the flesh- in other words, living for the here and now and satisfying the sinful desires of the natural man (or woman).  

But after looking at it again, I realize that the passage tells us not just what to do, but how to do it.  Which is awesome, because it answers to the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it."  What is our way of escape?  Living by the Spirit.

What does this mean?  Matthew Henry says, "By the Spirit here may be meant either the Holy Spirit himself... or that gracious principle which he implants in the souls of His people and which lusts against the flesh."  

And how do we accomplish living by the Spirit?  Matthew Henry again: "The best antidote against the poison of sin is to walk in the Spirit, to be much in conversing with spiritual things, to mind the things of the soul, which is the spiritual part of man, more than those of the body, which is his carnal part, to commit ourselves to the guidance of the Word, wherein the Holy Spirit makes known the will of God concerning us, and in the way of our duty to act in a dependence on His aids and influences."

So basically we are to live in a spiritual state of mind all the time.  Christianity is not a on-again off-again thing- and it's not enough to have devotions once a day and go to church once a week, either.  If we are to live by the Spirit, we must zealously pursue spiritual things until our hearts are in it. We are to live in a constant state of dependence on God, which is the only way to really escape sin.  

It makes me think of a passage from Stepping Heavenward that talks about committing even the smallest of daily actions to God, as a way of checking that we stay within His will.  It seems this would also be a good way to keep from slipping into a worldly state of mind.  Of course, I don't mean, and I'm sure that Matthew Henry and Paul didn't mean, that we are to walk around with long faces and pray for hours a day. Rather we should live with a joyful awareness of God's presence and prayerful submission to His will at ALL times.  

I think of how often during a day I think of things I want to say to my husband.  Can you imagine if we set up fifteen minutes each morning to be our only talking time for the whole day? Our relationship would fall apart, and love would cease to grow between us with so little to go on!  How much more should I talk to God.  As hard as this goal is to accomplish, I can only the blessings that would come if I could ever learn to truly walk by the Spirit.