ODJ: An Ordinary Person?

May 17, 2018 

READ: Galatians 5:13-26 

Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives (v.25).

If you get to know Lilian, you’ll soon discover that she has a contagious love for Jesus. After much prayer and counsel, Lilian and her husband left their careers to share the love of Jesus with university students in India and later in America. Even after her husband’s passing, Lilian continues to mentor and pray with young people who need direction in their lives. Her favourite time of the day is any time she gets to talk with Jesus and hand Him all her worries and problems.

This woman’s passion for life and her love for Jesus and those around her reminds me of Paul’s encouragement to believers in the province of Galatia. He told them to “follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of [their] lives” (Galatians 5:25).

What does that kind of total commitment look like? Paul emphasised that as followers of Jesus, they were free from the bondage of sin (v.1). But that didn’t mean they could use their freedom in any way they wanted. Instead, they were to “let the Holy Spirit guide [their] lives,” because the Spirit gives “desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires” (vv.16-17).

What an amazing and liberating truth! The divine Advocate whom Jesus had promised believers would never leave them (John 14:16), would direct them to honour and obey God and would teach them to “serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). Ultimately, believers’ actions towards each other within the body of Christ would show that they had Christ’s Spirit living within them (vv.22-23).

May the God of hope and strength give us the motivation today to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, both as individuals and in our communities of faith!

—Estera Pirosca Escobar

365-day plan: Psalm 139:1-24