This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
During a business trip to Florida several years ago, the client took my partner and me to a famous restaurant called Clark’s Fish Camp. As we waited for the food to arrive, the waiter brought a large platter of exotic samples to our table. For the first time in my life, I was able to taste such fare as roast kangaroo and alligator tail, among other things. Unfortunately (or not), they were fresh out of rattlesnake, so I did not get to try that. For me, those samples were a real treat, because, like most of us, I love to try new and different foods. Was it that same desire for something new to taste that caused our first mother to be tempted to eat of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? We are told that she saw the tree was good for food (Genesis 3:6). Such an appetite is actually one of the world’s big three offerings, as we read in John 2:16: ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.’ No, I am not condemning trying new foods, but our text would remind us that Christians should seek better than the destructive dainties of this world.
One of the greatest heroes of faith was Moses, and he accomplished his great exploits for God because he knew what it was to put the lust of the flesh in its place: ‘Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward’ (Hebrews 11:25-26). Egypt had much to offer Moses, including a throne. But he found something better. And so do we, if we learn to walk in the Spirit.
Do you ever worry about your salvation because the temptations of the world are so troublesome to you? Rejoice, because the very fact that those temptations trouble you is proof that the Holy Spirit is making you aware that yielding to those temptations would be wrong. Before you were saved, you had no such conflict with temptation. But now, the Spirit is seeking to guide your footsteps according to the will of God. What our text is reminding us is that walking in the Spirit will preserve us from the lust of the flesh. To walk in the Spirit is to walk in obedience to the Word of God, to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides us into truth, worship, and service to our Lord.
No, walking in the Spirit is not always easy. But it is always right. – Jim MacIntosh