Staying in Step

When that walking drum beats differently than the rhythm of the people and media input around us - we have a choice to make. To which drum rhythm will I listen?  To which rhythm do I walk?

We can walk according to the rhythm to which everyone else walks - and see the results that everyone else sees - or we can walk to the rhythm of a drum that beats differently than the rest.  It may mean that we look different, too. It may mean that we do not fit with those that walk the same as everyone else.  But in the end - we are rewarded by the Eternal God of Heaven according to whose rhythm we followed? To whose drum beat did we listen?

They sound very different from each other.   One is comfortable and fits well with our natural gait  -the other, we have to get used to because it causes us to change the pattern of walk.  We discover that the direction that drum takes us does not head down an easy path.

One path may seem more fun and filled with more adventure and the other may seem like it is the safe and secure and (dare I say it?) boring!  But what is incredible is when we follow the rhythm that God sets out there is more adventure, excitement and risk than one could ever imagine because in God's hands you NEVER know where He may take you next but you CAN know that He is there with you and waiting for you at the end!
Galatians 5 tells us about this... it says that our normal nature (our sin nature with which we are born) is constantly in a battle of rhythms with the Holy Spirit that lives in the heart of every believer (which we receive permanently when we yield our lives to Jesus' lordship).

The NIV describes it in terms that are understandable and yet distant enough to not feel personal to me:

Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
²¹ 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 Message (paraphrase) brings it home to my heart...

Galatians 5:19-21 (MSG)
¹⁹ It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;
²⁰ trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits;
²¹ the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

So what do I do with this?  Read on (I love it when bad and negative information in Scripture is followed with the word "but"):

Galatians 5:22-25 (NIV)
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Even better - look at The Message for verse 25

Galatians 5:25 (MSG)
²⁵ Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

The drum beat of the drum to which you walk may sound different than your friend's drum beat but if you follow the drum beat that keeps you in step with the Holy Spirit of God - you are on the right rhythm. Choose your rhythm carefully and courageously.  Staying in step with the Spirit is not for the faint of heart.