Good Morning Friends,
I have written about walking with God before and the thought that God never changes comes to mind, but the thing is that I have changed, and the timing of where and when God walks with me changes, and that always makes the experience new for me. Right now, as I am typing this it is quiet and dark outside and it makes me aware that when we walk with God in His light, we discover far more than we ever even knew to ask. We discover that we do not need to wait for Christmas or Easter or Pentecost to begin the walk. We do not even have to wait for Sunday but can begin right now even before the Sun rises. And when we begin to follow Jesus in His eternal light, we discover that indeed life can get rough, but as Christians we have access to an unshakable joy and a supernatural peace and a holy mindset that pleases God. I experience it as I walk on the beach with my wife…as I read scripture. Here I ask Jesus to be part of the journey. Here I take the talk of concerns to Him in prayer and He in turn answers with an opportunity to experience Him on the journey. So, Are You Walking The Path Of Righteousness With God?
Scripture: When Enoch had lived for sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah for three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.
Genesis 5:21-24 (NRSV)
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:21 (NRSV)
whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.
1 John 2:6 (NRSV)
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 (NRSV)
These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
Genesis 17:1 (NRSV)
And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
Leviticus 26:12 (NRSV)
The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O Lord, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us. O Lord, in distress they sought you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them. Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near her time, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were with child, we writhed, but we gave birth only to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and no one is born to inhabit the world. Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to those long dead.
Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 (NRSV)
Message: According to medical authorities, walking is one of the most profitable forms of physical exercise. It stimulates the heart and lungs, strengthens the bones, and muscles, increases the blood flow throughout the body, and reportedly contributes to the loss of excess weight. Because of its multiple values, Americans have been encouraged to leave their cars in the garage and participate more frequently in the exercise of walking. I for one love walking on the beach and even up and down our street. But today’s question explores a different kind of health and a different kind of walking. In scripture walking with God is a figure of speech meaning the manner of life we live or how we conduct ourselves. The spiritual walk of which the Bible speaks is a dynamic exercise of faith, and the successful completion of this walk is dependent not upon one’s natural or physical resources but upon the strength, leadership, and controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. Walking with God here is about our response to God. It is about trusting God. Of course, this kind of walking, if with God, makes a good life better. For if we walk with God, not away from or ahead of, we walk in power, for God is power. The prophet Isaiah saw that when God gave His commandments to Israel, they were being asked to walk a righteous path. Unfortunately, they frequently responded by rebellion. They considered God’s call to do right by Him and by their fellow men as a burden too heavy, so they ran after other gods, who were more entertaining, who promised worship with sensual pleasures and didn’t require just actions. But, as we see in this very earthy analogy, the result was like the agony of childbirth, but without producing a human child. In fact, it doesn’t take much imagination to understand what it means to writhe with bloated abdominal pain only to break wind. Jesus in counterbalance of a better way describes his easy yoke and light burden. One is healthy, the other is not.
And So, we have a choice. And the better choice is to have an intimate fellowship in a walk with a God we trust. The words of Jesus today are so poignant in describing this that most of us have probably memorized them sometime in our lives. You see a yoke is the implement an ox or other draft animal wears between head and body. Slaves might be made to wear such apparatus if they were being used to drag a heavy load. So, they were not the kind of things that one would willingly take up. When Our Lord asks us to take His yoke on ourselves, it means He is asking us to work, to work on our own spiritual growth, on the unity and strength of our community, and on the labor of evangelization. We see this pleasing reality clearly in the little we know of the life of Enoch. He is one of but a few men of whom it is said “he walked with God.” He is one of a few who pleased God. He is an example for us of the power of walking in the Spirit. You see, in Christ we move, breath and have our being because when we come to Christ our burdens are lifted. So awake. Let scripture take us on a righteous journey. Let the light of Christ shine a way on the path. Travel through this life with the light of Christ and His love and health.
Pray we walk the straight path of righteousness. Pray we move in the fullness of a life in Christ. Pray we exercise in faith. Pray that even though we do not always know the way God is leading us that we trust in the destination God has planned for us. Pray we leave the details of the journey in His hands as we walk yoked to His ways. Pray we grow, build, and abound in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pray we make the most of our walk with God. Pray we are influenced by God. Pray we delight in the Word of God. Pray we meditate on scripture. Pray our character is changed from the inside out. Pray we become fruitful, durable, and prosperous spiritually. Pray we realize that our destiny is determined by our choices. Pray we allow God’s Spirit to lead us. Pray we walk in a yoked relationship of love with God and with each other as a family. Pray we shod our feet with the preparation of peace so we might be stable in our walk with God when the path gets rocky. Pray we take joy in a healthy walk with God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 