“Walk This Way”
April 23, 2022
Someone once suggested, “If a daily fitness walk could be put into a pill, it would be one of the most popular prescriptions in the world.” I would have to agree with that. Walking is a very popular choice of exercise, and most likely because of its many benefits. Reduced risk of heart attack, elevation of mood, improved sleep, and relief of back and arthritis pain, are just a few of the many advantages of walking.
Walking is my first choice of exercise as it is one of the most convenient forms of working out-it does not require a gym membership and it can be done both inside and outside of my home. During work day I will set my alarm to prompt me to move about every 20 minutes or so. And when the weather is pleasant, especially during the spring season, I choose to walk at a local cemetery near my home. It may sound strange that I walk at a cemetery rather than at the park that is walking distance to my home, but the cemetery is pretty, uncrowded, and full of walkable, flat paths.
Many days I walk alone, but on occasion I will meet up with a friend at the cemetery, or even meet a new friend while walking. However, old friend or new friend, I have two ‘rules’ (I’ve been accused of having a penchant for rules) when walking with somebody. The first ‘rule’ is that we must walk at the same pace, and the second ‘rule’ is that we must walk in the same direction. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
Recently I have been thinking about my walking routine and realized that my ‘rules’ for walking with friends applies to my spiritual walk as well. I John 1:5-7 reads,
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.-I John 1:5-7
One of John’s favorite metaphors is light-he mentions it over twenty times in his letters. To walk in the light means to live in the truth of God. And in I John 2, the apostle teaches that walking in the light includes obeying God’s Word.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.-I John 2:3-6
Walking with the Lord requires that I walk in step with obedience to His word (pace) and that I surrender the direction of my life to Him. Walk in the light, live in the truth of God, and walk in love and obedience to His commands.