Tag: walking with God

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Walk in the Light

The electrical power went out in our apartment building the other night. The hallways were lit by generator but our rooms were utterly dark. Darkness like that can be disorienting and potentially dangerous. It can lead to stubbed toes, skinned shins, or worse, a fall with injury. It was a relief when the lights came on again.

On our walking pilgrimage through life, the New Testament tells us to avoid moral and spiritual darkness. Rather, we are instructed to walk in the light. The word picture of walking is a favorite metaphor of John the apostle. He wrote, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

Here are two lifestyles, represented by darkness and light. One means to walk, or to live in sin, and the other is to walk, or to live in fellowship with God, who is righteous. This is possible only through faith in Jesus who shed his blood as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God is light.

This means that his nature is holy and perfect. In him there is nothing evil or false. When Israel was being forged as a nation, God led them by a pillar of fire on their forty-year walk through the wilderness. The light assured them of his holy presence and guided them (Exodus 13:21). This may be what informed John’s emphasis on walking in the light as a picture of Christian discipleship.

Christ is the light of the world.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12, 9:5). To walk in the light is to walk in fellowship with Jesus. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” ( 1 John 2:6). If we remain in fellowship with Jesus, walking with him, we will reflect the light that comes from him. Jesus told his followers that they, too are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

God’s word is a light.

If we love the Lord we will “walk in obedience to his commands” (2 John 6). For us this means faithful adherence to the guidance of holy scripture. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). The light of God’s revealed word scatters our darkness and illuminates the path of life before us. C.S. Lewis made this point when he said that we believe the sun has risen, not because we see it, but because by it we see everything else.

I am profoundly grateful for 1 John 1:7 because it tells me that I may walk in the light of fellowship with God and his Son. If I fail to stay in step with them and slip into darkness, I may confess my sin and know that the blood of Jesus  cleanses me from all sin. As the light of God reveals my sin I may keep on appropriating the benefits of Christ’s death on the cross by repentance and faith.

It is an amazing and wonderful truth that the God who is light created us for fellowship with himself. Jesus has made this possible. His word is our guide to walking in the light. That’s walking with God.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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A Good Walk Shared

Mark Twain is reported to have said that the game of golf is “a good walk spoiled.” John Feinstein wrote a book about golf and gave it that title. This piece is not about golf. It’s about walking.

Our progress through life is like a journey on foot, a long walk, a pilgrimage. It is one in which we may walk in the company of God himself. This is a word picture that is used frequently in the Bible. “Noah . . . walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9, NIV).

The Old Testament has well over 200 references to walking. Some of these refer literally to walking from one place to another. Most of them, however, are figurative uses of the word “walk” as a metaphor for living life. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in the way of the wicked’ (Psalm 1:1, NIV). Sometimes contemporary versions of the Bible translate the word “walk” as “live” or “behave.” “Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live” (or walk, Exodus 18:20, NIV).

This lifelong walk is seen as a purposeful, resolute trek, with God as a faithful guide and companion on the journey.

For the people of Israel, this was serious business. This meant that they were to walk (live) in accordance with God’s laws. “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules, and keep my statutes, and walk in them. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 18:3-4, ESV).

Living this way was for their protection from tyranny, disease, and moral confusion. Living this way insured civil order, happy homes, and economic justice. This was called “walking in God’s ways.” (This phrase is used repeatedly in the Old Testament to illustrate how the Israelites were to walk in the direction and on the path that the Lord God had chosen for them as his people.)

Living (walking) this (in his) way also insured that the Lord himself would accompany them on their journey. “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 26:12-13, NIV).

In my hikes on the Appalachian Trail, I relied upon white blazes (two inches wide by six inches) painted on trees, rocks, or fence posts to mark the trail. These markers, usually about a quarter mile apart, are for hikers’ guidance and safety, to help them stay on the path. That was the function of God’s law for Israel. His “way” for them to walk was always good. “Teach them the good way in which they should walk” (1 Kings 8:36, ESV).

Like warning signals, the Lord also issued cautionary words to inform his people of the consequences of resisting his will. It was a dangerous thing to oppose the Living God. In Leviticus 26, he gave his people a litany of terrible things that might happen to them if they “walk contrary to” his way.

The worst result would be this: “If you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I will discipline you sevenfold for your sins” (Leviticus 26:27-28, ESV). Those words are more stark and disturbing then a bomb scare or a tornado warning.

It is better to walk with God.

His presence is wisdom. “For wisdom will enter your heart . . . Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous” (Proverbs 2:10, 20, NIV).

His presence is guidance. “Whether you turn to the right hand or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it'” (Isaiah 30: 21, NIV).

His presence is peace.  “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4, NIV).

His presence is blessing. “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him” (Psalm 128:1, NIV). 

All these advantages, and more, were true of Abraham, to whom the Lord said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1, NIV). He was later able to testify of “The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully” (Genesis 24:40, NIV). This meant that every step Abraham took through life, he was conscious of God’s presence. He experienced the Lord close at hand in personal fellowship.

Is this a possibility for us today? If the Old Testament is foundational to our understanding of the New, then surely the theme of walking with God will be expanded and explained more fully there. In the weeks to come we will examine some New Testament passages that show us how to walk through life in fellowship with God.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Enoch’s Long Walk

“Enoch walked with God; then he was no more because God took him away.” (Genesis 5:24)

Genesis chapter 5 is an historical summary of the generations before God judged the world with the great flood. It is a genealogy of the descendants of Adam down to Noah. The recurrent theme of the chapter is death. It describes a fulfillment of God’s verdict on Adam and Eve: “You shall surely die.” The last enemy, death, was at the end of every life, even those very long lives. Eight times in the chapter we encounter the phrase, “then he died.”

One man, Enoch, stands out. He breaks the pattern.  His story is an exception to the death and ungodliness in his time. He escaped death. That’s right. He didn’t die. The New Testament comments: “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. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). 

In this respect, Enoch is an illustration of the rapture, or “catching away” of the church before the future tribulation Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24. In that passage, Jesus compared the tribulation judgment of the last days to the flood (Matthew 24:35-39). Enoch’s translation to heaven pictures what will happen to the living believers who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

Enoch pleased God because he walked with God. Or did he walk with God because he pleased God? Either way, he stands out in his generation as one who lived in close fellowship with his Creator. He walked with God for 300 years! That’s consistency. Living for God in this world — living with God — is like a walk. My experience as a long-distance hiker on the Appalachian Trail has taught me the value of steady progress over a long haul. It is not a sprint or a dash, nor is it a casual stroll.

Enoch’s walk with God implies long-term obedience to the will of God. They were moving in the same direction. Enoch and God were on good terms. Abraham was called the friend of God. So was Enoch. I don’t think it an exaggeration to say that they enjoyed each others’ company. Enoch did not allow anything to interfere with his relationship with God.

It was said of Charles Haddon Spurgeon that “he felt perfectly at home with his Heavenly Father.” Perhaps that could describe Enoch’s relationship with God, too. It was based on faith. For us it is living by faith in God’s word, and the guidance of God’s Spirit, not trusting our own understanding. “We live (literally ‘walk’) by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Enoch was commended for his faith in Hebrews 11:5-6. There it tells us that his faith “pleased God,” and that without faith it is impossible for us to please God.

Genesis tells us of three men who walked with God, Enoch, Noah (Genesis 6:9), and Abraham (Genesis 17:1). Scripture also tells us that we, you and I, here and now are invited to walk with God. Listen to the prophet Micah: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

I want 2023 to be a year in which I walk humbly with God. I am not talking about physical walking. With Parkinson’s disease, I am a little less steady on my feet than I once was. I think my long-distance hiking days are over. But spiritually, in my relationship with the Father in Heaven, I can keep walking in faith and faithfulness. For the next few weeks I will use this space to explore what that looks like.

Pastor Randy Faulkner