This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16
Remember the devotional entitled, ‘Why Phil Thumped Jim’? You’ll recall that Jim gave Phil an opening. Of course Phil took it and delivered the knock-out blow.
This pictured the daily battle within us between our ‘old man’ and our ‘new man.’ We finished by noting that the solution is to walk in the Spirit.
Do you want to ‘not fulfil the lust of the flesh’? Of course you do! Who wants to live a defeated life, constantly guilty over yet another time of giving in to the temptations of the flesh?
Not me! I want to live in victory!
‘Then walk in the Spirit,’ God says. I’m not passive. I have a part to play if I’m going to triumph. It comes down to a decision that I must make, and make often each day: ‘Will I walk in the flesh like I did before I was saved, or will I walk in the Spirit?’
It all depends on which one I give way to. I will say ‘yes’ to one or the other.
To walk in the Spirit refers to letting Him control you. It is the same thing described in Ephesians 5:18, ‘And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.’ Literally, the Lord says here, ‘Be ye continually filled with the Spirit.’ Like a person who is walking or progressing from one place to another, we are to day-by-day, hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment, obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
But in saying ‘yes,’ to the Holy Spirit, I am saying ‘no’ to the flesh. This is sometimes referred to as denying self or dying to self. In Mark 8:34, the Lord Jesus said, ‘Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ He elsewhere taught, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit’ (John 12:24).
Romans 13:14 commands, ‘But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.’ Starve the flesh! Don’t feed it with polluting entertainment. Stay away from places and people and music that will strengthen your fleshly desires.
King David starved the flesh when he said, ‘I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave [or cling] to me’ (Psalm 101:3). Many today would foolishly call him a legalist, too strict for his own good. But he was wise to make no provision for the flesh.
Dog fighting is illegal in Australia, and I’m not endorsing it, but let’s consider it as an illustration of this concept. Let’s say you have two dogs, Fido and Rover. They can’t stand each other. Each day you let them out of their kennels and they go at it. They maul and bite and tear. Finally you separate them for the day.
What could you do if you wanted to favour one dog or the other? What if you fed Fido the very finest, and only threw food scraps to Rover? Fido had plenty of water and exercise, but Rover was neglected. Which dog would be likely to win tomorrow’s fight? How about the day after tomorrow?
You see the point. Just as the dog you favour will succeed, so the nature you favour will succeed.
Likewise, how can Jim thump Phil and the ‘new man’ conquer the ‘old man’? Favour Jim. Feed him the T-bone steak of meditative Bible study. Exercise him faithfully by unceasingly communing with God. Simultaneously weaken Phil by denying him sensuous movies, alcohol, indecent images, or rock music. Refuse to make provision for the flesh.
Just as Rover and Phil don’t stand a chance under such treatment, your ‘old man’ will live a neglected, emaciated existence under such self-denial.
Father, my greatest desire is to walk with You and please You. Yet I find my flesh coming between us. Please enable me to deny it the nutrition it wants. Keep it weak, feeble, flimsy and scrawny. At the same time, help me to nourish that new nature You placed in me. Make my Bible study and communion with you meaningful and reinforcing. I need Your help to live a disciplined life. In Jesus Name I ask these things, Amen.