Walking: putting one foot in front of the other. We walk to get from here to there. We walk alone, we walk together.
God walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening. Adam and Eve probably joined Him. Walking with God, talking with God; can you imagine that? They walked—until they sinned. Then they hid.
Enoch walked with God 365 days for 300 years. That is a long walk! His story in Genesis 5 is only four verses long, but Enoch was not forgotten. Noah followed his great-grandfather’s example; he also walked with God. Not surprisingly, both Noah and Enoch appear in Hebrew’s faith chapter, but Enoch from Genesis also shows up in Jude, the second last book of the Bible.
Scripture tells us that we too can walk…let me rephrase: we too should walk with God. The Bible has a lot to say about that. Here are the basics.
We never walk with enemies; we walk with friends. Because of sin, we naturally are God’s enemies, but we must be at peace with God to walk with Him. Trying to be good will not change our relationship, even though God loves us very much. There is only one way to have peace with God, by trusting in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Do you qualify to walk with God? Are you God’s friend?
Amos, an obscure Old Testament prophet, reminds us that walking together with anyone does not happen by accident: Do two walk together unless they have agreed to meet? God is always available, time is irrelevant to Him, but we have to set a time for ourselves to meet with Him.
God does not ask us, “Where would you like to walk today?” He will not follow, ever! God marches on His path, and if we want to walk with Him we must be on that same path. Psalm 119:105 says that God lights our path with His word. The Bible maps out God’s path.
We discover how and where to walk when we read God’s instructions, but reading is not enough. As Moses told the Israelites: Walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn to the right or to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32-33). The Bible directs our walk and we must obey.
Walking together requires that we walk at the same speed. Keeping pace with God sometimes means waiting and sometimes jumping ahead further than we can see. Both require faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). We need a personal guide to advise when to jump and when to wait; that is the role of the Holy Spirit. We learn to walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:14) by talking with God, by praying.
What is your destination? Are you walking in the right direction to get there? Enoch never died; he walked with God right into heaven! That is my goal: I want to walk with God until He takes me to heaven. Are you on the same walk?
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