Walking With God

WALKING WITH GOD

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 5:21-24

INTRODUCTION

According to medical authorities, walking is one of the most profitable forms of physical exercise. It stimulates the heart and lungs, strengthens the bones and muscles, increases the blood flow throughout the body, and reportedly contributes to the loss of excess weight. Because of its multiple values, Americans have been encouraged to leave their cars in the garage and participate more frequently in the exercise of walking.

A Television commercial sometime ago reminded us that "walking makes the good life better."

Did you know that the average pair of feet take 7000 to 8000 steps a day; about two and one-half million steps a year. It makes you tired, doesn’t it? That means that in a lifetime, you will walk approximately 115,000 miles.

The first man to walk around the world was a man by the name of David Kunst of Waseca, Minnesota. He completed his historic walk on October 5, 1974, after walking 15,000 miles. The trip required four and one-half years, during which time David went through 22 pairs of shoes and wore out two mules. At the completion of his historic journey, an auction was held with eager bidders paying $150 for his right shoe, $170 for his left shoe, and $140 for his remaining mule.

Most people find It neither appealing nor practical to be a David Kunst and accept the challenge to hike around the world. However, God wants us to understand that the Christian life Is a walk-a journey which requires dedication, courage, and persistence. It calls for self-surrender, a fully yielded life, and an intense desire to please God rather than ourselves.

The spiritual walk of which the Bible speaks Is a dynamic exercise of faith, and the successful completion of this walk Is dependent not upon one’s natural or physical resources but upon the strength, leadership, and controlling influence of the Holy Spirit.

Enoch is one of the most striking personalities of the Old Testament. He Is one of but two men of whom it is said "he walked with God." He Is one of but two men who lived on this earth and went to heaven without passing through the portals of death. He is the only one, except our blessed Lord, of whom it is written that "he pleased God." The reason for the remarkable qualities and successes of this man Is recorded In Genesis 5:24: "He walked with God."

Let me suggest several things regarding this spiritual walk that I think are important:

FIRST; THIS IS A WALK WITH GOD.

Our text says, "Enoch walked with God." This Is not an ordinary walk and you do not keep company with the ordinary. You are walking with God. However strange it may seem to our finite minds, It is possible, according to the Word of God, to live in the realm of the Spirit and walk In fellowship with the heavenly Father. Enoch’s walk emphasizes an Important relationship between humanity and divinity, between God and man, between that which Is weak and limited, and that which Is powerful and unlimited. Think of the high and holy privilege of walking with God. What an exciting thought that I can walk with God.

God-who clothes Himself with honor and majesty

God-who covers Himself with light as with a garment

God-who stretched out the heavens like a curtain

God-who laid the beams of His chambers in the waters

God-who makes the clouds His chariot

God-who walks upon the wings of the wind.

God-who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flaming fire

God-who laid the foundation of the earth that it should not be removed forever

God-who sent the springs into the valleys

God-who gives the fowls of the heaven their habitation and causes them to sing among the branches

God-who waters the hills from His chambers

God-who causes the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of man that He may bring forth food out of the earth

God-who planted the cedars of Lebanon and provided the high hills as a refuge for the wild goats and the rocks for the conies

God-who appointed the moon its seasons and the sun its appointed time to go down (see Psalm 104).

You mean I can walk with a God like that? The answer is, Yes, you can. God said in Leviticus 26:3, "If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments, and do them; I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people."

How can I, a mere mortal, a mere human being, walk with God?

We read 1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." True fellowship with God and true fellowship with one another are made possible through and by Jesus Christ, God’s Son.