So the three-day weekend is here and my wife and I were planning to take a nice ride Saturday morning.
We are fortunate enough to have a garage to park our bikes in. When we get ready to ride, I normally pull both bikes out into the driveway.
I sat on her Bonnie and immediately felt something was off as I tried to roll it backwards. I hopped off and checked the back tire, sure enough, it was a little low. A quick inspection and I found the culprit. Just what you might have guessed, a nail stared defiantly up at me.
Fortunately we are a four bike family! I pulled out her Royal Enfield instead and out we rode. That afternoon we talked to our mechanic and the Bonnie will get fixed this week.
Since we own a compressor, I often check the tire pressure on all four motorcycles. They are always at the correct psi. That's why I knew right away something was off. Keep your machine working on the mark, you notice even the slightest change.
Had I not noticed the change in pressure, we would have headed down the road with that nail in the tire. This could have led to anything from an abrupt halt, to a life-threatening loss of control of the motorcycle.
Our walk with the Lord is the same way. Reading Galatians 5:16-25 (NIV) today,
"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Walking by the spirit is living right before the Lord, essentially avoiding sin. When we live right, even the slightest change in our heart or actions will be glaringly obvious. At those times, we are able to correct the attitude or action, ask forgiveness, and move on.
But when we make it a regular habit of living by the flesh, what is harmful to our lives with the Lord becomes less and less obvious. Before we know it, we are way off course in our life with him.
And more than an interrupted ride is at stake here, our eternal life is.
