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
A. To me, there is a subtle difference between...
“walking WITH God”...
and “walking BEFORE God”...
Walking WITH God implies close communion and fellowship...
And walking BEFORE God implies obedience and faithfulness.
B. In Genesis 17:1, God tells Abraham...
"I am God Almighty ; walk before me and be blameless.
God was establishing His covenant with Abraham...
God was telling Abraham that He would bless him with many descendants...
that they would have their own land...
and God would guide and protect them...
That’s what God would do...
But Abraham’s part...was to walk in obedience to the Lord...
to serve Him and Him alone...
and not just Abraham...but all his descendants as well...
they were to live their lives in obedience to God...
Holy...Righteous...and blameless...
Walking BEFORE God.
C. Micah 6:8 tells us
God has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
The Prophet Micah is not just prophesying for the people of Israel...
He is also prophesying for you and for me...
What does the Lord require of you and of me?
He requires us to act Justly...
In other words, whatever we do...our actions...
may they be good and right and correct and holy...
He requires us to love mercy...
That certainly has reference to the fact that God has been so merciful to us...
so, we should be merciful to others...
and, lastly, Micah says that God requires you and me to...
walk humbly with your God...
D. Sometimes when going on walks...
someone will lead the way...
they might say, “Let’s turn here”...
Or, they might not say anything...
it’s just in the way that they are walking...
they walk over here...and you follow...
Micah states that we are walk humbly before God...
Certainly, when we walk with God...
we don’t presume to say...”Let’s walk over there”..
or “Let’s go this way”...
We let God lead the way...
He’s in charge...
we submit to His will and His way in all things...
We follow in obedience to His leading and guiding...
E. One phrase that is found over and over in Scripture...
is a reference to “walk in God’s ways”...
Walking in God’s ways implies obedience to the will of God...
Joshua 22:5 says, “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “ Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
And one more for good measure...from our text...
Deuteronomy 26:16-17 “The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him”
F. God not only walks with us in the spiritual sense...
and not only are we to walk with God in humble obedience...
3. But God Walks Among Us
A. In one of the most intriguing instances...
we find the word walk in Genesis 3:8...
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden
Commentators differ on whether God actually, literally walked around the Garden of Eden...
I’m inclined to think He did; based on this verse of Scripture...
But, even if He didn’t...
we could certainly see that God walk amongst Adam and Eve in a special way...
There was a special closeness that they were accustomed too...
Unfortunately, after the fall due to sin...
that special closeness was lost except for some special circumstances...
Leviticus 26:12, God says, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people”...
and we know that while the Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness...
There were times of real closeness to God...
the pillar of fire by night...
and the pillar of cloud by day...
to lead the way...
In Isaiah 43:2, God says,
“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
B. And we see that God’s presence is with us during difficult times...
and speaking of God being with us when we walk through the fire...
That happened LITERALLY to Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego...
Daniel 3:25 says, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like the Son of God."
C. And then, in one of my favorite stories of the Bible...
the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus following the resurrection of Jesus...
And Luke 24:15 says, “As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;”
And in fact, the very life of Jesus is the story of God walking among us...
being with us...
Conclusion
1. As we continue to learn our Biblical ABCs...
we come to the letter W...
W is for walk...
We see from Scripture that we can walk with God in a spiritual sense...
There is that blessed sweet communion that we receive during those special times of the Lord’s presence...
When I visit people in the hospital, I often pray that God’s presence would seem very real...
I don’t want them to feel abandoned in the hospital...
I don’t want them to feel like they are suffering and alone...
and no one knows about it...
because certainly God knows and cares about what we are going through.
2. And we walk BEFORE God in humility and obedience to Him...
And there are those special times when God walks amongst us...
those times when we sense the special closeness of God’s presence...
3. And the question naturally arises...
How can we walk in obedience?...
How can we walk with God?...
Leviticus 26:13 says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
God ENABLES us to walk with Him...
It is through the power of Christ that we can live for Him...
and walk before Him in humble obedience each and every day...
Psalm 84:11 says, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
4. and another verse of encouragement...
Isaiah 40:13...
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
and one more...Jeremiah 6:16 says,
“"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
5. Walking is certainly good for exercise...
it is good for the body...
it is good for spending some quality time with someone you love...
and that includes our Lord Jesus Christ!!
Walk with Him!!!
Enjoy sweet fellowship with Him...
Walk before Him in obedience to His will...
and He will enable you to walk in His ways.
