Walking in the Spirit, in the awareness, the blessing, and the counsel of God is the desire of every earnest Christian. It was no mistake that the desert loomed large in the lives of the prophets of God, who lived for his presence. Jesus also withdrew into the desert, endured the temptations of Satan and came out again empowered by God.
The desert has a way of concentrating the faculties, of making one aware of the overwhelming enormity of God in his omnipotence. The stars loom large and luminous in the night sky. Blazing with the glory of God, far away from city lights and polluted air that would dim their shining, they press down on the soul. They are an illustration of God's greatness and our smallness; our dependency; our isolation from the cosmos.
Little wonder men and women streamed into desert regions to get closer to God, many spending years in contemplation, only to realise finally their obligation to return to the world of men and fulfill the command of Christ to feed, clothe, heal, and teach.
In this busy modern world it has become increasingly hard for Christians to find the time and the isolation to meditate on the things of God. Too many allow themselves to be caught up with the seemingly important, necessary, even urgent tasks of their lives leaving aside the essential, fundamental task of getting to know God intimately.
But if we can discipline ourselves to spend the necessary time we can be constantly aware of God even in the midst of our busy-ness. In the gospels we see Jesus daily drawing aside for communion with his Father so he could say,
I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say (Jn 12:49-50)
We too need to live in this dimension so that we can truly say, 'We are Christians who walk in the Spirit.'
In this book, 'Walking in the Spirit' is examined from many different aspects concluding with teaching on 'The New Man.'