Read: Galatians 5:16-26
The LORD is my shepherd. (Ps. 23:1a)
Sheep need their shepherd. They need him for their total care. We also need our Shepherd. In John 15:5, Jesus says to his disciples, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” If we are going to commit to walking differently this new year, as illustrated in David’s Twenty-Third Psalm, we cannot do it alone.
As the apostle Paul told the Galatians, we need to “walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16). Paul knew that it was easy to give in to the desires of the flesh. The desires of the flesh go against the Spirit (v. 17). But if you walk by the Spirit, you will bear the fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (vv. 22-23). Paul also encouraged the Galatians to “keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25). How easy it is for us to get ahead of the Spirit or to lag behind in our walking with him.
These last two weeks, we observed ways we can walk forward in this new year. God our Shepherd shows us the way. By his Spirit, we walk with enough, in rest and peace, restored, in righteousness for his sake, without fear, and in his comfort. We walk generously, anointed, with goodness and mercy, and we walk assured.
My friends, let us walk by the Spirit, trusting him for all our needs this year. He knows our future. He lovingly will guide us. Will you choose to walk with him? O Savior, like a shepherd lead us.
As you pray, walk by the Spirit, in step with him.
About the Author
Nancy Boote, an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of America, lives in Holland, Michigan, with her husband. Besides being a mother, a grandmother, a song writer, and lover of horses, Nancy also has a heart for prayer and seeing racism dismantled.
