Walking with God
After becoming a Christian, sometimes we hear our life described as our “Christian walk.” It’s unique—after all, you don’t hear someone ask a professional athlete about his “athletic walk” or a politician about her “political walk”—but it’s a fitting description for a Christian. We read several times in Scriptures about those who walked closely with the Lord, and Jesus talked about staying on the narrow road. There is a lot of “walking” language used to describe our life as Christ followers.
“What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:6-8)
Micah lists three things the Lord requires of us: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. So are we doing that? Are we walking with Him? At the end of each day can we look back and say we walked closely with the Lord today? Or do we find that maybe we walked closer with anger or annoyance or frustration? Maybe you walked closely with fear and worry. Maybe you walked closer with Netflix or a bad website. Sometimes we can spend more time walking in darkness than in the Light of Christ.
“Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3)
“Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.” (Ephesians 5:3-4)
If you want to walk with God, you must be in agreement with Him about the direction, so don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are walking with Him if you are living in obedience to your sinful nature. If you are on the wide path, filled with all your sinful desires, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are on the narrow one. We must die to ourselves and our sinful desires and declare that His will be done, not ours. How do we do this?
“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.” (Isaiah 50:10)
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:5)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Trust the Lord! If you are walking in darkness, trust in the Lord! Don’t depend on your own understanding of things. Instead, seek His will in everything you do. If you do this, God will show you which path to take, and then the two of you will be in agreement about the direction.
“Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
To say you walk closely with the Lord is to recognize that the Lord is with you! Paul says if you do not know that Jesus Christ is among you then you have failed the test of genuine faith! This Christian walk leaves no room for sexual immorality, impurity, greed, lustful pleasures, obscene stories, foolish talk, coarse jokes, quarreling, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, drunkenness, etc (Galatians 5:19-21). To walk with God is to walk away from these things, away from sin. If you wouldn’t say it, do it, or watch it in front of God, don’t say it, do it, or watch it at all, because He is with you all the time!
Throughout the day, pass the test of genuine faith by knowing that God is with you, walking right beside you. Let His presence drive away any desire to follow your sinful nature. At night, look back on your day and ask yourself, “Did I walk closely with the Lord today?”
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
—Redeemed
