“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6 NKJV).
The word “walking” speaks of regularity, of moving at a certain pace. The Bible tells us in Genesis 5 about Enoch, who walked with God. But what does it mean to “walk with God”? Is it just a religious cliché? The prophet Amos asked, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). The idea is to be walking in pace with someone, in harmony with another.
Walking with my wife.
I have a problem with this when I walk with my wife. I always walk a little faster than she does. I will walk ahead. I’ll stop. Then she will catch up with me. So I’ll try to walk more slowly, but the next thing I know, I’m walking fast again.
When it comes to walking with God, some of us want to run ahead of Him. Some of us lag behind. We need to move in harmony with Him. We need to stay close to Him and make a continual commitment to do so. Referring to our daily relationship with God’s Holy Spirit, the New Testament says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV).
Keep in step with the Spirit.
But what does this mean in practice? How do we do this? What does it look like to keep in step with the Spirit? It means we take time for the things of God. It means when we get up in the morning, we take time to read the Bible. If we neglect the Word of God, it will show in our lives. Abiding in Jesus also means that we spend time in fellowship with God’s people.
Make time!
Make time for the things of God. Don’t wait for time to simply materialize; deliberately carve out room in your schedule. If it means an hour less of sleep, fine. If it means skipping a meal, okay. If it means missing a television program, so be it.
Do what you need to do, because making time for the things of God is essential to spiritual growth, to abiding with God, and to bearing spiritual fruit.
And it is a walk—the best of all walks—walking with God will bring indescribable richness to your daily life!
