W Is For Walk Series

Introduction

1. On his sixteenth birthday a son approached his father and said,

"Dad, I’m sixteen now. When I get my license, can I drive the family car?"

His dad looked at him and said, "Son, driving the car takes maturity, and first, you must prove that you are responsible enough. And one way you must do that is to bring up your grades. They are not acceptable.

Second, you must read the Bible every day.

And finally, you must get that hair cut; it looks outrageous."

The son began the task of fulfilling his father’s requirements, knowing that the last one might be impossible.

When his grades came out he went to his dad with a big smile. "Look, Dad, all A’s and B’s on my report card. Now can I drive the family car?"

"Very good, son.” His dad said, “You are one-third of the way there, but have you been reading the Bible?".

"Yes, Dad, every day," said the son. "Very good son. You are two- thirds of the way there. Now when are you going to get that hair cut?"

The son, thinking that he could out smart the father, responded, "Well, I don’t see why I should get my hair cut to drive the car. Jesus had long hair, didn’t he?"

The father looked at his boy and said,

"That’s right, son and Jesus walked everywhere he went."

2, I like to go on walks...

Walking is great for your physical body...

It is a healthy exercise...that isn’t as hard on your body as some other activities..

But for me, walking is much more than just physical exercise...

Kay and I often enjoy a walk together...

We do desire to receive the physical benefits from walking...

but we receive so much more from our walking together...

It is our opportunity to just BE together...

to enjoy one another’s presence...

As you might imagine, with both of us employed...

and with 4 kids...

our quiet times together are few and far between...

so we really treasure our walks together...

But, even more than just being together...

Some of our most heart-felt discussions take place while we walk...

we will share our hopes and dreams with one another while we walk...

we will share our fears and concerns while we walk together...

we will talk about financial concerns...

and concerns about our children...

while we walk along together...

3. Walking figures prominently in the Bible too...

As we continue to study our Biblical ABCs...

we come to the letter W...

Walk and its various forms, (walking, walked, walks, etc)...

appears 252 times throughout Scripture...

I appears as early as Genesis 3:8 when Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden...

it occurs close to 50 times in the Wisdom Literature like Psalms and Proverbs...

It occurs close to 50 times (47 actually) in the Old Testament Prophets...

It occurs 49 times in the Gospels and Acts...

and it occurs 15 times in the Epistles...

And the Last occurrence is in Revelation chapter 21...

So you can see that this work is found scattered liberally throughout every kind of literature that makes up the Bible...

4. Let’s dig in...

Read Text: Deuteronomy 26:16-17

Body

1. Walking with God in the Spiritual Sense

A. In various places throughout Scripture...

We see where people walked with God...

not in the sense of literally walking down the street together...

but in a spiritual sense...

Genesis 5:22 & 24 tells us that “Enoch walked with God”...

In Genesis 6:9, the Bible tells us that

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God”

B. I explained the intimacy that Kay and I enjoy on our walks together...

That sense of closeness...

that sense of close fellowship and sharing...

and that is what I picture with Enoch and Noah...

they walked with God...

they had close fellowship with God...

they had daily communion with God.

C. In our busy lives...

Kay and I often have difficulty finding time for our walks together...

But they are so important to us, that we make time to do it...

The same should be true in our relationship with the Lord...

Oftentimes when get so busy...

and if we aren’t careful...

a day or 2 might go by where we don’t have that close intimate time spent with God...

But we need to make sure that we make the time...

moments when we just enjoy one another’s presence...

time spent listening to God’s voice as we read His Word...

time spent sharing our hopes and dreams;...

and our fears and concerns as we pray...

time spent just relishing the presence of the Lord!!

2. And then there are various places in Scripture where it talks about Walking BEFORE God