My dogs and I try to walk every day. Since we are fenced, the dogs can run freely. Some of them like to be out in front of me. Some cast back and forth across the field, and if not for the fence, would soon be out of sight. But some are always found walking closely by my side.
As I contemplated how the dogs and I walk together, I thought about how I walk with God. Do I like to walk ahead of Him, seeking my own path, only running back to Him when I find myself in trouble?
Do I cast about in the field of life, checking out all the exciting things it offers, things which can pull me further away from my walk with Him until I can no longer hear His voice on the horizon of my mind? Or do I choose to walk closely beside Him each day?
In the Old Testament, those who walked with God did so by faith, looking forward to the coming of the prophesied Messiah, Jesus Christ. Today, we walk with God through the guidance of His Holy Spirit, who resides in all who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. He is the Messiah whom God foretold at the beginning of time in the Garden after Adam and Eve sinned. At that point, their walk with God was forever changed.
Walking closely with God by remembering and dwelling on the truth of His Word and by the power of His Holy Spirit keeps us on the right path for life. It protects, comforts, and directs us in the best way to go. It also opens our eyes more each day as God reveals who He is and how much He loves us.
What’s your walk like? Out front, doing your own thing? Casting about, looking for something you think will be a little more exciting? Or calmly and obediently, like Enoch, walking by God’s side, feeling His approval day by day, until He takes us away to dwell with Him forever (Genesis 5:22, 24).
Lynne Phipps and her family live on a small hobby farm in the heart of Alberta, Canada’s farming country. She has been writing devotions for forty years and never tires of the spiritual correlation the Holy Spirit blesses her with. He uses normal everyday events and the behaviors of the multitude of glorious creatures He has brought across her path to point her to the truths of God. Lynne is a devotion writer for VineWords: Devotions and More, Christian Devotions, and The Illustrator.