Put on your walking shoes

Introduction

I think this would make a very strong opening, especially with pictures of the shoes on the screen:

Did you know there are people who spend millions of dollars on shoes and never wear them?

Michael Jordan's championship-winning "Dynasty Collection" sold for more than $8 million. A single pair of Michael Jordan's Air Jordan 13 "Last Dance" sneakers sold for over $2.2 million. Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototype sold for $1.8 million.

People buy shoes like these, display them, protect them, admire them, and insure them.

But many never wear them. They never use them for what they were made to do. Shoes were made for walking.

And in much the same way, the Christian life was never meant to be admired from a distance. It was meant to be lived.

God didn't save us so we could sit on a shelf.

God didn't save us so we could simply display our faith on Sunday.

He saved us so we could walk with Him every day.

That's why one of the greatest statements in all of Scripture is found in Genesis 5:24: "Enoch walked faithfully with God." Not that he worked for God. Not that he knew about God.

Not that he occasionally visited God. He walked with God.

This morning, I want to challenge you to do something simple:

Put on your walking shoes. Walking is one of the simplest things we do, yet Scripture often uses it to describe the Christian life. Christianity is not a sprint, a leap, or a single decision. It is a walk.

Enoch is one of the most fascinating people in the Bible. We know very little about him, but what we do know is remarkable:

"Enoch walked faithfully with God."

Not that he worked for God. Not that he knew about God. Not that he occasionally visited God.

He walked with God.

The question is not whether we come to church. The question is: Are we walking with God?

Point 1. It Doesn't Matter Where You Start

Genesis 5:21–22 NIV

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

What's interesting is that the Bible doesn't say Enoch walked with God from birth.

For 65 years we know very little about him.

Then something changed.

Perhaps the birth of Methuselah caused him to think differently about life, eternity, and God.

The point is this:

God isn't nearly as concerned about where you started as He is about the direction you're walking now.

Abraham started as a pagan.

Moses started as a murderer.

Paul started as a persecutor.

Enoch didn't begin his walk until later.

Some people spend their lives looking back with regret.

God says, "Put on your shoes and start walking."

You may have wasted years, but you don't have to waste another day.

Point 2: Walking with God Starts with Faith

Hebrews 11:5–6 “5 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. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Before Enoch was known for his walk, he was known for his faith.

You cannot walk with someone you don't believe is there.

Faith is the first step in every relationship with God.

Faith believes God exists.

Faith believes God is good.

Faith believes God rewards those who seek Him.

Many people want the blessings of walking with God without taking the first step of faith.

Application: Where is God calling you to trust Him today?

Point 3. Walking with God Is a Daily Journey

Genesis 5:22

"Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years."

Another translation says the he spent his life “in fellowship with God…and in constant touch with God” Enoch walked with God.” Another translation says the he spent his life “in fellowship with God…and in constant touch with God” (Genesis 5:24 TLB). The focus of Enoch’s faith was his deep and abiding relationship with God.

A walk is progress.

Nobody walks 15,000 miles in a day. Nobody becomes spiritually mature overnight.

One step. One day. One year. One faithful decision at a time.

Illustration: One Step at a Time

In 1970, Dave Kunst left Waseca, Minnesota, with his brother John and began what would become the first verified walk around the world. Their goal was not simply to travel. They wanted to attempt something that had never been done before and inspire others through the journey. Along the way they encouraged support for UNICEF, crossed continents, faced hardships, and experienced tremendous loss when John's life was taken by bandits in Afghanistan. Yet Dave eventually returned to the very place where he started more than four years later after walking over 14,000 miles. [en.wikipedia.org], [smithsonianmag.com]

What's remarkable is that Dave Kunst did not complete that journey by focusing on all 14,000 miles at once.

He completed it one step at a time.

There were days when the road was exciting.

There were days when the road was difficult.

There were days when he probably wondered if he would ever reach the finish line.

But he kept walking.

In reflecting on his journey, Kunst said,"I proved something to myself: If a human being makes up his mind, is determined, sets goals, he can walk around the world." [en.wikipedia.org]

Enoch's walk with God teaches us a similar truth spiritually. God isn't asking us to figure out the next 300 years. God isn't asking us to see every bend in the road. God is asking us to trust Him with the next step.

Every day we take up our cross.

Every day we follow Christ.

Every day we trust the God who orders our steps.

A life that pleases God is built the same way Dave Kunst walked around the world:

One step at a time.

One day at a time.

One walk with God at a time.

At the end of 300 years Enoch knew God better than when he started.

Acts 4:13 says people "took note that they had been with Jesus."

If we walk with Jesus long enough, people should begin noticing a family resemblance.

Enoch walked with God for 300 years.

Not 300 days.

Not during a revival meeting.

Not only when life was good.

Three hundred years.

The secret to Enoch's life was not perfection, but persistence.

God isn't asking us to figure out the next 300 years..."

Psalm 37:23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;”

Enoch may not have known where every step would lead, but he knew the One leading him.

We don't need to see the entire road ahead. We simply need enough light for the next step.

And because he walked consistently with God, he grew in his knowledge of God, his love for God, and his likeness to God

Application: Are you closer to God today than you were a year ago?

Point 4: Walking with God Requires Going Against the Crowd

Jude 14–15 “14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.””

Enoch did not live in easy times.

The culture around him was corrupt and headed toward judgment.

Everybody may be walking one direction, but a child of God must walk with God even when it means walking alone.

Dead fish float downstream. Living fish swim against the current.

It takes no effort to drift.

It takes conviction to walk with God.

Enoch refused to let the culture determine his direction.

Application: Is there an area of your life where you're following the crowd instead of following Christ?

Point 5: Walking with God Requires the Right Shoes

Ephesians 6:15 “15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

A long walk requires proper footwear.

Paul says our feet should be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

You don't walk very far barefoot over rough ground.

The Gospel equips us to keep moving when life gets difficult.

The world offers confusion.

The Gospel offers peace.

The world offers fear.

The Gospel offers confidence.

If you're going to walk with God, you've got to put on your walking shoes every day.

Enoch had the right shoes on.

He kept walking by faith.

He walked against the current.

He stayed faithful.

And because he stayed faithful, one day his walk reached its destination.

Application: Are you walking in the peace of the Gospel or the anxiety of the world?

Point 6: Walking with God Ends in Glory

Genesis 5:24 NIV

24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Hebrews 11:5 NIV

5 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.

"Then he was no more, because God took him away."

Enoch's walk ended differently than everyone else's in Genesis 5.

The repeated phrase in Genesis 5 is: "And he died."

But not Enoch.

His fellowship with God became so close that one day God simply took him home.

Paul's translation is a beautiful picture and foreshadowing of the hope believers have in Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

One day our walk of faith will become sight.

One day we will hear the call to come up higher.

The Christian life is not just about starting well. It is about walking faithfully until we see Jesus face to face.

Conclusion

When you leave today, ask yourself:

Have I taken the first step of faith?

Am I growing in my walk?

Am I willing to walk against the crowd?

Am I wearing the right shoes?

Am I ready when the Lord calls me home?

God is not asking you to run. God is not asking you to be perfect overnight. God is asking you to walk with Him.

So, church:

Some of you need to start walking.

Some of you need to keep walking.

Some of you need to come back to the path you've wandered from.

But wherever you are today, God is not asking you to run.

God is not asking you to have the next 300 years figured out.

God is simply asking you to walk with Him.

One step.

One day.

One act of obedience at a time.

So church...

Put on your walking shoes.

The Lord is ready to walk with you.