Come, follow Me

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16, ESV.

In high school, Paul’s words to the Galatians were a godsend, literally.  I struggled with temptations from every side, struggled mightily.  Even worse, these struggles made me feel completely unworthy to even approach God in reverence.  This verse inspired in me the first inkling that it wasn’t a matter of cleaning the sin out of my life before I came to Him, but rather a matter of sacrificing it in order to follow Him, to walk in the Spirit as it were.  Once doing so, He would lend me strength to overcome them.  As Francis Chen says in Crazy Love, “you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin….When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry or fear.  As long as you’re running, you’re safe.”

I didn’t truly come to understand that concept until recently, but in reflection of this verse, 16-year-old me wrote this poem, possibly the only poem I’ve ever written of any quality.  I had completely forgotten about it, but while going through an old notebook recently I stumbled on it, and it convicted me to perform some introspection and see if these words still applied to my life.

 

Lord must I walk this path again?

Try to pass this test again?

So many times I’ve tried,

And failed

Then You come and pick me up

Your Spirit surrounding me,

Now it’s astounding me

Your Grace,

Compassion,

Mercy.

(Even when I don’t deserve it)

Though temptation may rise,

I will walk in the Spirit ’til the day I die

The world is pulling on me,

But I’m standing on You.

No matter what happens,

You bring me through

The world says I’m trippin’

But what they can’t see:

Every time I trip, you say,

“COME, FOLLOW ME”

-Nathan Powell