April 21, 2024

Hector Herrera
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit."
Galatians 5:24-25

These two verses are very powerful and personal to me. I believe verse 24 speaks to Jesus guiding our lives and us surrendering our sinful tendencies to the Spirit daily. Jesus should be enough to satisfy our needs in our life. I remember that as a non-believer, my desire and thoughts always focused on being rich and acquiring material toys. You know, the big house, a boat, at least two nice trucks (stuff). However, when I became a believer, I realized I was already rich, and my joy came from a relationship with Him. I realized that the richness of God was much more valuable than worldly stuff and that He was enough for me. Neither money nor stuff makes us happy. The Lord is the only one who satisfies our needs.

Verse 25 reminds me of my dad. I had the privilege and honor to guide my dad to Christ. On his deathbed, the Lord allowed for a beautiful and transparent conversation to take place between us. We reminisced about the good times of my younger days, we forgave each other for the hurts we caused, we laughed, and we cried for at least three hours.

Toward the end of this conversation, my dad asked me a question. He remembered me always trying to outbeat and surpass him while working in the pecan orchards. While we were grafting or pruning pecan trees, I tried my hardest to finish before him, but I always fell behind. He asked, “Do you know why you could never beat me?”  I responded that I did not know. His response was, “You never found your pace. You rushed and could not finish strong.”  What did I learn from my dad? It is important to pace yourself to ride the waves of life. Verse 25 tells us to find our pace in Jesus Christ because His ways are better than ours. His timing is always better than ours. His plan is always better than ours. Let’s find our pace in Jesus and let Him direct our steps.