Tag Archives: walking

Walking Alone in the Wild is Scary. How About Using a Guide?

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The Bible has a lot to say about walking. It tells us to walk in faith, to walk together, and to walk in love. The whole Biblical notion of a person’s walk is that it’s indicative of how they live and conduct themselves. To paraphrase James Allen, “As a man walketh (not thinketh), so is he.” That’s what makes this brief snippet about Enoch so interesting. “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (Genesis 5:21-24, NIV)

Short Eulogies

Genesis 5 is a summary of the lives of those who lived from Adam to Noah. Almost every one ends with an obituary, saying they lived so many years, had such-and-such offspring, and ends with the statement, “then he died.” After all, that’s pretty much how obituaries go for everyone, right?

walking blind

You could say that all of us walk uncertainly through a changing world, headed towards a certain end. Not so with Enoch. He is mentioned in the Bible several times. The Genesis account says that Enoch “walked faithfully with God, then he was no more, because God took him away.” Jude 14 says that Enoch was the seventh in line from Adam (apparently counting Adam), descending from Seth.

Enoch was apparently a noteworthy individual for several reasons. There is an Apocryphal book of Enoch attributed to him. He is commended for walking faithfully with God in Hebrews 11:5 which says, “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” So why is Enoch special? What the Bible says about him is that “he walked faithfully with God.” Why is that such a big deal?

Walking the Walk

Dig a little deeper into that simple statement: 1) Walking implies proximity. To walk WITH someone, you have to be near them. Who are you near? Who do you walk with?

2) Walking with God suggests intentionality, since to walk TOGETHER means you both agreed to make that happen; (Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”) Simple but true.

3) It implies intimacy, since you travel at a pace that allows for interaction and conversation.

4) Walking FAITHFULLY means it happened consistently with commitment, and it also suggests that Enoch walked the way God was going: Enoch. Followed. God.

5) Finally, it suggests strong individuality: apparently not everybody does it, since the Bible emphasizes Enoch’s life in three different places.

Quick, of all the people you know, who do you immediately think of as faithfully walking with God? Why do you see them that way? How much time do you spend with them? How do the people you DO spend time with walk? Does it lift you up or drag you down?

Take A Walk

This, of course, begs the question: Are YOU walking with God? Are you walking FAITHFULLY with God? When they write your obituary, and summarize what you did on this earth, don’t let it read, “He or she knew God was out there, kinda agreed with Him, but pretty much decided to only hang out with Him every now and then, and basically went his or her own way because they thought they knew better.”

Different types of walks have different types of results. Don’t wait for pie in the sky when you die by-and-by. Reach up, take your Father’s hand, and start walking.

A Good Walk

The Bible says that Enoch was out walking with God each day,
And then he “was no more” because God took him clean away!
Apparently he was more than just a guy who talked the talk;
Enoch rose above his peers because he walked the walk.
When someone writes the epitaph for all you say and do,
Who will they say you walked with, and who also walked with YOU?

To buy my latest book, Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David
To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-1&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread
For the Kindle Edition, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Bo-Jackson-ebook/dp/B01K5Z0NLA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-2&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread

Walking in the Light Beats Sneaking in the Dark

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Walking in the dark is dangerous. That’s why the Psalmist said he’d rather have a spiritual flashlight: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105 KJV) You’ve heard this verse before, and I’m sure you thought, “Yes, God’s word provides insights that enlighten and give direction.”

Be Careful Out There

But have you stopped and thought about what it really says? Have you ever hiked at night over rocky ground? Imagine doing that for a minute. Walking in the dark is no picnic. It’s spooky out there, what with the animal noises and nocturnal predators. People get lost more easily in the dark, in more ways than one. Have you ever been out walking in a big city after midnight? Ever thought about how much crime takes place between 11:00 pm and 4:00 am? Or just how dangerous it can be, walking around in the “dead of night”?

walking in darkness

Walking the Shadowlands

Even after your eyes adjust to the darkness, you have to be careful about where you step and where you are headed. Sure, there may be a path, but there might be sticks, bushes, uneven terrain, or rocks at your feet that can trip you or make you fall. You might even wander off the path and get lost. Darkness is dangerous. In Psalm 23, David wasn’t concerned about walking in the valley of the bright lights of death, he wanted God’s presence in the valley of the SHADOW of death.

Darkness obscures your path and makes it harder for you to know where to go. It also allows cover for bad things. John 3:19 reminds us that “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil…” When do you think the most crimes are committed? (When it’s DARK.) Is there anything you prefer to do under cover of darkness? Anything you do that you don’t want people to see? (Then of course, as your Mom said, you probably shouldn’t DO it.)

Light Versus Dark

The relationship of darkness to our spiritual journey is fairly clear. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2, NKJV) Satan loves darkness and death, and God by His very nature provides light and life. Jesus compared God’s people to the lights of a city on the hill, shining in the darkness.

But think about this as well: when you are walking in darkness over uncertain terrain, a light shone at your feet gives you just enough illumination to take the next few steps safely, even though it does not enable you to see a great distance down the path. So it is with a spiritual walk: you are given sufficient illumination for today, so that you are not distracted by worries or curiosity about the future.

I never thought of this verse as meaning “be in the moment”, but that’s kinda what it says… Use God’s word to be “in the moment” with Him today, and you’ll stay connected to God’s light, God’s people, and to Him. As 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Dark Steps

Statistics say the dead of night will hide the darkest deeds,
Since darkness gives the criminal the cover that he needs;
Lurking in the shadows there, the evil one is stalking,
So exercise some care at night, and watch where you are walking!
Wandering in darkness, there’s no telling who you’ll meet:
So let God’s word become a spiritual lamp unto your feet.
A lack of guiding light can also make us go astray,
And wander into danger in the dark along the way.
Statistics tell the story; I don’t have to do the math,
So use God’s word and let it be the light upon your path!

To buy my latest book, Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David
To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-1&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread