“If we live by the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25) We have all seen the commercials starring extended-bellied children suffering of starvation in third world countries (crying into the lens of a $10,000, high-definition camera), and at the end of those advertisements they ask us to help support a child for a dollar a day. What should be our first instinct? The desire to help! That should be the first thought!
At Wal-Mart, you see an elderly man drop something out of his wallet while he’s paying the cashier…what should be your first instinct? Pick it up and give it to him! It’s 15 degrees outside and you see that a woman is trying to change a tire on the side of the highway…what should be your first instinct? Stop and help! There’s a show on television that keeps using profanity while your two year old daughter is watching…first instinct? Turn it off! A widower down the road has no family and it’s the Holidays…first instinct? Go invite him to Christmas dinner!
How many times has our first instinct to do good…disappeared? At conception, it blazed a trail through our mind and there was nothing that was going to stop us from accomplishing that good deed for another: visiting, sending a card, calling someone on the phone, giving money (or time) to help someone in need. However, as quickly as it began to burn…the thought to do good is consumed by distraction and nothing is left but the ash of good intention.
Do we truly live by the Spirit? Are we being influenced daily by the Spirit-inspired Word? Is every thought and instinct guided by the Spirit of God into life-activity? How many times have we simply dismissed the conviction to do something good, and in doing so, grieved the Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30). Don’t dismiss the first instinct to do good, rather, act upon it…and glorify God by it.
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