Walk This Way
January 21, 2011
Today marks the end of the third week in January and some of you may have decided that 2011 would be the year to read through the Bible. Depending on the plan you use, you have probably made it well into Genesis and have for sure by now hit at least one of the many dreaded genealogy passages – the ones that usually trip people up even though they are determined to travel straight through to Revelation. In fact, the very first list of descendents is named in the fifth chapter of Genesis.
“This is the book of the generations of Adam” Genesis 5:1
Listed there in chronological order are the records from Adam to Noah. It compiles the lifespan of ten men in thirty-two verses and the account is basically identical throughout the passage. Beginning with the very first man, their lives are neatly summed up by recording their ages when they fathered a particular son, the fact that they had other sons and daughters, and then a very simple explanation of their demise. “He died.”
Something about the list, however, caught my eye. As I followed the progression from generation to generation, all these Old Testament fathers had something in common. It says, “They lived.” Yes, of course, they did! That doesn’t seem so stunning until you get to Enoch. Now Enoch is well known for leaving behind a different epitaph because the Scripture tells us, “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”
This makes me think there must be a distinct difference between living and walking.
All the other men are listed as living. But Enoch differentiated himself by walking.
I thought further about what it’s like to walk with someone. Suppose you agree to meet with a friend for a walk in the park. Maybe it’s for exercise or maybe just for a stroll. The first time you have to set a pace of some kind. There may be a couple of false starts and you may fall out of step a time or two. But eventually you find a pace and side-by-side you continue down the path.
Walking with someone requires being in tune with the other person – being aware of their gait, the length of their stride, and the more it’s done, the easier it is to match until one day no thought has to be given to keeping up, it’s a natural rhythm. A friend of mine used to walk around a track with her father and everyone who watched them remarked how much alike they “walked”.
I’d say there’s a great difference between just living and walking, especially if we are walking WITH the Lord. And when someone sees me out walking, I hope they think I favor my Father. (CT)
“Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” Psalm 86:11
Looking for more words? Read Ephesians 5:1-8 and contrast walking with living.