So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
Galatians 5:16-18 (NLT)
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. – Poet Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken"
That line from poetry is probably one of the most famous lines in American poetry, maybe American literature. It is often quoted by speakers to challenge her or his audience to take the road less traveled – to not follow the crowd or to do the hard things that most people don’t want to do. All of us have come to places and moments in our lives where there is a fork in the road, and we have to decide which route we will take.
In fact, most of life is like that. Someone once said, “your life is the accumulation of every decision you’ve ever made.” The forks in the road or decisions that I have made that tend to stick with me the most were the ones where I clearly knew the right path, the wise path, and the healthy path, but still chose the other path. Usually, I have done that because the other path led me where I wanted to go, despite the consequences.
In Galatians, a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in a region called Galatia (modern-day Turkey). In his letter, Paul compares the results of our sinful nature (sexual immorality, drunkenness, envy, greed, etc.) with the ‘fruit’ of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.). There is a fork in the road, Paul seems to be saying, and you should choose the right path – the road less traveled. How to do this? Be directed by the Holy Spirit and let Him guide your lives.
The Holy Spirit wants to provide us with divine direction, leading us down the right roads and keeping us from the pain and consequences of wrong road living. Like a GPS for your soul, God wants to help you navigate the turns and choose the right path, even when it is the road less traveled.
Have you ever realized that you were headed down the wrong path and chosen to keep going anyway? What is it that kept you going that way? What do you think it means to let the Holy Spirit guide your life?