ESTABLISHED: Walking with God
Notes
Transcript
There are several people described as “walking with God” in the Bible, beginning with Enoch in Genesis 5:24.
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Noah is also described as “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9).
Micah 6:8 gives us a glimpse into God’s desire for us:
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Walking with God is not an activity reserved for a select few. God desires all of His children to walk with Him.
What happens when we walk with someone? Imagine that you and a close friend are enjoying a walk down a country lane. You are in close proximity. You talk, laugh, listen, and share your hearts. Your attention is focused on this person to the exclusion of almost everything else. You notice the beauty around you or an occasional distraction, but only to point it out to your companion. You share it together. You are in harmony, and you both enjoy the peaceful camaraderie.
Walking with God is like that. When we enter into an intimate heart relationship with God through faith in His Son (Hebrews 10:22), He becomes our heart’s greatest desire. Knowing Him, hearing His voice, sharing our hearts with Him, and seeking to please Him become our all-consuming focus.
He becomes everything to us. Meeting with Him is not an activity reserved for Sunday morning. We live to fellowship with Him.
A. W. Tozer states that the goal of every Christian should be to "live in a state of unbroken worship." This is only possible when we walk with God.
Just as walking with a close friend requires saying "no" to many other things, so walking with God requires letting go of anything that would be a distraction.
Look at it this way...
If you were on a walk with a friend but you brought a kazoo and played it the whole time, the walk would not be satisfying for either of you. Many people attempt to walk with God, but they bring along kazoo-like habits, sins, worldly entertainments, or unhealthy relationships.
We know these things are not God’s choice for us, but we pretend everything is fine. The relationship is not satisfying to either of them.
To walk with God means that you and God are in agreement about your life. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3, KJV).
To walk with God means you have aligned your will with His and seek every day to consider yourself "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20).
You don’t have to be perfect, as none of us is (Romans 3:10).
10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
But your heart’s desire is to be pleasing to God, and you are willing to let His Spirit conform you to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
When the Bible speaks of "walking," it often refers to a lifestyle.
We can walk in the ways of the world as well (2 Kings 8:27; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 3:7).
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
In the New Testament, walking with God is often called "walking in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:4).
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
To walk with God means we choose to glorify Him in every way we can, regardless of personal cost. And there is a cost.
Walking with God also means we cannot also walk with evil people as companions (Psalm 1:1-3).
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
We choose the narrow road over the broad way to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
We don’t live to please our sinful flesh (Romans 13:14).
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
We seek to eliminate from our lives everything that does not enhance our walk with Him (Hebrews 12:2).
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We apply 1 Corinthians 10:31 literally: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
God’s ways are reflected in our thoughts, our actions, our motivations, and our life choices because we spend so much time with Him.
It is not difficult to identify people who walk with God. Their lives are a stark contrast to the world around them, like stars in a nighttime sky (Philippians 2:15).
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
They produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) rather than the fruit of fleshly desire (Galatians 5:19-21).
In Acts 4:13 Peter and John had been arrested for preaching and were brought before the authorities. "The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus."
When we walk with God every day, the world cannot help but recognize that, in spite of our imperfections and lack of knowledge in some areas, we have been with Jesus.