TAKE A STROLL WITH THE SPIRIT!
by Lemuel Niere
“This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” Galatians 5:16.
How would you like to “walk in the Spirit” every day of your life? Is this proposal an impossibility? When the apostle Paul challenges us to “walk,” he uses the Greek word peripateo. This appears ninety-five times in the New Testament. It is a compound of the words peri and pateo. Peri means around, and suggests the idea of something that is encircling. That’s were periscope comes from, by the way. So it suggests the idea of encircling. The word pateo means to walk.
When these two Greek words are put together, it means to habitually walk around in one general vicinity. One Bible expositor notes that peripateo could be best explained by thinking of a person who has walked one path so habitually that he is able to walk that path blindfolded because it is his path, his sphere, the place where he has habitually lived and functioned.
A pastor and his wife invited an elderly couple for dinner at home. During their conversation, the elderly wife said that she lost most of her eyesight, so it was best to just stay home. At least at home she knew where all the furniture was, so even though she can’t see much, she can still walk around. The pastor was saddened to hear about this woman’s failing eyesight, but her words caused the pastor to think of the word peripateo in Galatians 5:16.
In the secular literature of New Testament times, the word peripateo often meant to stroll. Many Greek scholars suggest that the best way to translate Galatians 5:16 is “stroll in the Spirit.” To stroll is to leisurely walk. A person who strolls is not an anxious, frustrated person who is fighting to do something or to get somewhere; rather, he is restful, relaxed, unhurried, peaceful, and calm. When a person walks in the Spirit, the stress and anxieties of life are removed, and he moves over into a realm where he can stroll along in continual rest, peace, and calmness.
It's time to move up into a higher realm. Fixate on the goal of walking in the Spirit. Do what you can to become more sensitive to the Spirit of God. When we become more spiritually sensitive, it will be easier to keep in step with Holy Spirit. We will follow Him and live to please the Lord, and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh that seek to tear our lives apart.
God wants you and me to leave the low life we’ve been living and to come up to the spiritual path He has destined for you to walk on in your life. In that higher realm, you will experience live, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. These are the fruits that the Holy Spirit produces (Gal. 5:22, 23). What a contrast this is to the rotten, decaying garbage that the flesh produces.
