September 19, 2818
WALK. A person’s conduct or lifestyle; a way or manner of living; a standard of personal behavior; fellowship and communion; moral conduct.
People need a reason for acting. The more urgent or essential, the more likely we are to accomplishing the task. If your Doctor recommends, you lose a few pounds, and you will feel better; you may or may not heed his advice. Should your Physician say, “You must lose 30 pounds or risk a heart attack,” he dramatically escalates the purpose of the weight loss?
In the Bible, God gives the reason for walking with Him. He requires it! The Bible says, “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). God requires — not suggests — that our behavior reflects a lifestyle of service and a standard of personal conduct that pleases Him.
Walking With God Requires Commitment
While God invites Believers to walk with Him, the is for commitment. Commitment is more than agreeing to or wanting to do. Commitment is obligating you to do whatever it takes to get the desired results. The moment you commit to walking with God, your life—spiritual and secular—changes.
The Cost of Walking with God
The apostle Paul described the trials he suffered for his walk with God. “In far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).
Jesus invited people to walk with Him, but only after they counted the cost. “Whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish”’ (Luke 14:27-30).
Count on Encountering Obstacles, and Resistance
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale described obstacles as, “what you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” When the Apostle Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink and not walk on water. When believers take their eyes off their goal to walk with God, they wander and often experience defeat.
The New Testament provides an excellent example of Peter who saw obstacles and not goals. Jesus and His Disciples who were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a storm took them by surprise. Because of the fierceness of the storm, the frightened disciples believed the boat would overturn, and they would drown. Their problem was they took their eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm.
Obstacles are everywhere, and these distractions divert us from activities that lead to the achievement of our spiritual goal, to walk with God.