Walking with the Lor

Walking with the Lord

Pro 3:5-10 NLT - [5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. [7] Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn your back on evil. [8] Then you will gain renewed health and vitality. [9] Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces. [10] Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine.

Gen 5:24 NIV - [24] Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Gen 3:8 NIV - [8] Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

One of the things that has always struck me when referring to the fellowship between God and Man is this idea of “walking with God.” We first see the phrase implied in Genesis 3, where God is said to have been “walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” The implication is that God's presence was in the garden with Adam and Eve. They walked with God. Again in Genesis 5.24 we see a similar reference, although likely not literal: “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” The New International Version says Enoch “walked with God,” but the New Living Translation translates this passage as “[Enoch] enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life.” Both versions place an emphasis on this idea of fellowship with God.

But just what does it mean to walk with God? The writer of Proverbs explains it: “trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek [God's] will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.” Walking with God means trusting Him. It means seeking Him with all that we are. It means that we rely on His plans and His own self to sustain us. In this sense, it is perhaps better to say that God carries us. You will very likely find this implication when speaking with a Christian who has rooted himself deeply in the faith. This sort of man will speak often about how God is providing for Him, what wonderful things He is doing in his life, and what good things He has planned for the world. In other words, the man who walks with God is optimistic. He does not know where the path ahead lies, but He knows who is leading Him. That is why the Scripture says “He will direct your paths.” Many Christians like to see it the other way. They wish to direct their own path and drag God alongside them, or chain Him behind them. But this is not what it means to walk with God.

Walking with God means that we focus our lives on Him. He is not something we drag along as a good luck charm, a mere object of comfort or intellectualism, or a bodyguard in times of stress. No man who really loves a woman will marry her just because she happens to conveniently be good at cooking and providing pleasure. The carnal man will say such a thing, but Christians ought not even joke about them. Likewise, the Christian must not joke about His relationship with God. It must not be a mere “get out of jail free card.” Just as the man who really loves His wife spends time with her, makes sure to treat her with love and gentleness, so the man who really loves and walks with God will pursue passionately a relationship with Him. We must remember that it was Christ who first walked this journey: He is the one who stopped to bring us along with Him. Just as He led the disciples, so He leads us daily.

May we allow God to direct our paths. May we, like Enoch, walk with God in fellowship and in love. God, let us be a generation that passionately pursues your face! Let us be the Psalm 24 generation! Walk with Jesus every day. He will comfort you, instruct you, and love you. Most of all, He will lead you to His home, and He will help you find others to begin the journey. Let's start walking! Amen.

With love in Christ,

Austin Aldrich