WALKING WITH GOD
11th Oct 2023
Walking is a strongly recommended form of exercise. Some folk believe you should walk 10,000 steps every day! However, going for a walk with someone is a real blessing, not only for health, but for support and fellowship. Walking with God is even better.
In Genesis 5:24 it says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” This story is expanded in Hebrews 11:5, “For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God.” On one of these walks, God probably turned to him and said, we’ve walked so far I think we are nearer my home than yours, you had better come back with me!
So, walking with God is declared to be an act of faith. We don’t read of any miracles performed by Enoch, or any other might works, yet he was a man of faith. Walking with God means that we are conscious of His presence with us every moment of every day. He is with us when we are rejoicing, but also when things are tough.
I began thinking about this when reading Psalm 84. In verse 5 it says, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” The psalmist is speaking about those who have decided that “walking with God” is their lifestyle. It is not that life is always smooth and easy, verse 6 says, “As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs, the autumn rains cover it with pools.”
When we are walking with God through difficulties, through dry places, He pours water on the thirsty ground. Verse 7 says, “They go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.”
Psalm 84 is the description of a life lived in fellowship with God, worshipping God, walking with Him, dwelling in His house. The final verse in the psalm says, “O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.”
How is your pilgrimage going? Who are you walking with?
by Charles Sibthorpe
