Galatians 5:25 (NIV) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

When I was a young boy, I loved going on walks with my dad. He was obviously taller than I was and his walking strides were longer than mine. I remember trying to match his steps and in order to do so, I had to include a hop, skip and a jump to keep up. I even tried to match the order of his steps....left, right, left, right. It wasn’t easy to do, but I was determined and enjoyed the challenge.

I look at keeping up with the Spirit of God in the same way. The Spirit of the Lord is never inactive. He is always teaching, leading, prompting, guiding, interceding, empowering and filling, among other things. He is always up to something good. The Spirit is not a thing or a power, but a person. The Spirit is none other than God so in essence, to keep in step with the Spirit is to keep in step with God. But how in the world can you do that? The answer is found in the activity that He is involved in. He teaches us (John 14:26) and we can keep in step with Him by listening and obeying what He teaches us. He leads us and we can keep up with Him by following where He leads. He prompts us and we can keep up with Him by following His prompting and doing what the Spirit prompts us to do. Many times, He prompts us to pray for someone that He puts on our hearts because they are in need and He wants us to intercede for them. He empowers and we can use that power to be effective witnesses for the gospel by sharing Christ with those around us (Acts 1:8). The Spirit is active and moving and we have to be ready to move with Him if we are to keep up with Him.

The best way to make sure that we keep in lock-step with the Spirit of God is to be filled with Him. The Word of God commands us to be filled (Ephesians 5:18) and with good reason. It would be impossible to keep in step with the Spirit, to obey what He teaches, to follow where He leads, to be alert enough to follow his promptings or to be effective witnesses for Jesus if we are not filled with the very Spirit that we need to be in step with. It is He who gives us the ability to keep in step with Himself. It’s like when my dad would let me face him and put my feet on his feet and he would walk around the house. Every step he took, I also took because I was riding his feet. The Holy Spirit is like that. When you are filled with The Holy Spirit, you operate under His power and do things according to His ability, not yours. Now that you know, do what the Word of God commands you to do. Keep in step with the Spirit by letting His steps carry yours.

Pastor Joey Vazquez