I love walking. Apparently, walking is one of the best forms of physical exercise. Walking for 30 - 60 minutes a day, five days a week reduces the chances of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety and depression. It can increase life expectancy too.
Of course, walking is also a means of transport. In the ancient world it was the most common, and for some people the only, means of getting around.
Whether we are walking for physical exercise or as a means of transport it is one of those activities that it is fun to do with someone else. Pippa and I often go for long walks together on holiday. Walking and talking is a great way to communicate with family and friends.
The point is that we are doing two things at the same time. We are not just taking exercise or travelling. We are, as we walk together, in communion with one another. Both Enoch and Noah ‘walked faithfully with God’ (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). They didn’t just sit, kneel or stand with God. Those would be the kind of words we would often associate with spending time with God. But they were also in communion with God when they were doing something else. It suggests that while we are doing other things – working, eating, exercising or relaxing, we can be in communion with God.
The Bible has a great deal to say about walking with God. It is how we were intended to live. It was only Adam and Eve’s sin that made them hide when they ‘heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day’ (Genesis 3:8).
God’s desire for each of us is that we should walk humbly in a relationship (Micah 6:8). This is what Jesus has made possible – for us to walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6). Now we stumble, but one day we will walk with him dressed in white (Revelation 3:4).
Each of the passages for today tell us something more about what it means to walk with God.
1. Walk in peace
David did not have an easy life. ‘Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” ’ (vv.1–2).
Yet for most of David’s life, he seemed to have a deep peace – like a lake where there may be rough waves on the surface, but deeper down there is a great stillness.
David walked with God, ‘But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy hill’ (vv.3–4). David brought his fears and requests to God.
He was able to say, ‘I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side’ (vv.5–6).
Archie Coates, Vicar of St Peter’s in Brighton, wrote of this verse, ‘I aspire to that pattern of living day by day, a simple trust in God to supply all I need for the day ahead.’
Lord, thank you that no matter how many foes rise up against us, we can be reassured that ‘from the Lord comes deliverance’ (v.8). Thank you that you are a shield around us, that you bestow glory on us and lift up our heads. Thank you that when we ‘call out’ to you, you answer us from your ‘holy mountain’ (v.4). Thank you that when we walk with you, we can ‘lie down and sleep’ (v.5) and wake again because you sustain us.
Lord, we pray for the year ahead that you would help us to walk with you daily in the way of peace.
2. Walk in step with the Holy Spirit
For the third day running, we see the continuing theme of Jesus fulfilling the promise of the Old Testament. Three more times Matthew points out that Jesus’ life was a fulfilment of the Old Testament promise (Matthew 2:23, 3:3 and 3:15).
John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus and introduced the subject of the work of the Holy Spirit. We see here something of what it means to walk ‘in step with the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:25).
- Refined by fire
John said that whereas he baptised with water, Jesus will baptise ‘with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (Matthew 3:11). The Holy Spirit will come like a refining fire to bring power and purity in the lives of believers. Knowing the refining fire of the Spirit in this life means that we can be free from the fear of the fire of judgment when Jesus returns. ‘His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire’ (v.12).
- Filled with peace
When Jesus was baptised and came out of the water, ‘Heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him’ (v.16). The dove is a symbol of peace which the Holy Spirit brings to our lives. The ‘fruit of the Spirit is … peace’ (Galatians 5:22).
- Assured of adoption
A voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son’ (Matthew 3:17). Jesus is the Son of God in a unique way. However, the Holy Spirit assures all of us that we are sons and daughters of God, ‘The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children’ (Romans 8:15–16).
- Loved by God
The voice from heaven said ‘… whom I love ...’ (Matthew 3:17). The apostle Paul writes that God’s love for us is poured ‘into our hearts by the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 5:5).
- Knowing his pleasure
The voice from heaven says, ‘with him I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17). Again, it was supremely true of Jesus but God wants us all to know his pleasure. I love the moment in the film Chariots of Fire when Eric Liddell says, ‘When I run I feel his pleasure.’
Of course, Jesus is very different from us. He was sinless. In one sense, he did not need to be baptised. John the Baptist was hesitant about baptising him (v.14) but Jesus said, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness’ (v.15). Jesus identified with us, sinful human beings, right from the start. He was identifying with human beings so that he could bear our sin on the cross for us. As a result, we are able to experience the Holy Spirit in a similar way and walk ‘in step with the Spirit’.
Lord, thank you that you came ‘to fulfil all righteousness’. Thank you that you identified with us from the start and made it possible for us to be forgiven and to live a life of righteousness. Thank you that you give us your Holy Spirit to refine us, to give us peace, to assure us that we are children of God, to experience your love and to know your pleasure. Help us to walk ‘in step with the Spirit’ this year.
3. Walk in righteousness
Human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation. God created us to walk with him in righteousness. ‘When God created the human race, he made it godlike, with a nature akin to God. He created both male and female and blessed them, the whole human race’ (5:1–2, MSG).
However, sadly the human race went astray: ‘Human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil – evil, evil, evil from morning to night … it broke [God’s] heart’ (6:5–6, MSG).
Yet there were a couple of exceptions. ‘Enoch walked faithfully with God’ (5:22). I wonder whether the birth of his first child had an impact upon Enoch. One of my very close friends became a Christian through experiencing the birth of his first child. It appears that after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God for the rest of his life. ‘Enoch walked steadily with God. And then one day he was simply gone: God took him’ (v.24, MSG).
Noah also walked with God. In spite of all the evil going on around him, ‘Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God’ (6:9, MSG). Noah believed God and built a boat, even though it was not raining and there was no water in sight (see Luke 17:26–27; Matthew 24:37–39).
In the New Testament, the sudden judgment of the flood is paralleled with the sudden judgment of the second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:36–39; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:3–7). As Noah had faith in God to save him, so we need faith in God to save us from the judgment that is to come.
Lord, help us to follow the example of Enoch and Noah. Help us to be righteous and blameless in our thoughts, words and deeds, walking with you in a close relationship. Help us, like Noah, to do everything ‘just as God commanded’ (Genesis 6:22). Thank you that, like Noah, we can place our faith in you and be saved.
Pippa Adds
Genesis 5:18
The average age for starting a family seems to be a little later than it is today. Jared has his first child at 162. This is the opposite of teenage pregnancy!
It obviously took him a long time to prepare for fatherhood. But he did a very good job because his son Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:22–24).
Comments
spieling bad sory
i don't no, but was there ways of coukalating a calender difrent from ouwers ,is ouwer way of doing it from Jesus time ,so we wood count it as 12 months, so it sounds relay hy but if there way was different then it cud be more realistick so dus eny one no the answer was there way off coukalating a year difrent to ouwers
The Jewish calendar is very different to ours, even today. But I don't know how people's ages were calculated in the Old Testament. I'm sure Ted will be able to tell us. (He's in USA, so some hours behind us - another sort of time difference!)
The thing with creation, in part, is that the Hebrew word day can mean different ttimes, like the "day, days and half a day" in Daniel and Revelations, which is understood to mean three and a half years by most teachers I know (not a scientific sampling).
I just tried to use the Biblegateway site with the readings on it to access the Strong's concordance information. I can't find it the way I used to. Can anyone help? I'll try Strong's concordance in Google. How strange, how does one get into Strong's?
Wow! I am completely new to this, and I really like to thank you for this wonderful opportunity to read the Bible this way. You know, I "grew up with the Bible" as they say, but after the last three days I am really wondering: "Did I?". I am looking forward to this year now. There is so much to read, so much to learn and I feel truly blessed! Thank You!! Kind regards from The Netherlands
we welcome you hoop you have a good year this site got me over a bad one
First of all, Lucy, I'm still waiting for God to show me exactly how the Genesis account(s) of creation jibe(s) with the geological record? What I do know is that psychologically the Genesis 3 account is dead on, and the Big Bang is probably what happened in Genesis 1.1: I'm speaking in faith when I say 'Evolution was God's means of Intelligent design.' The 'days' and the longevity– I don't understand– yet. Soon enough– 1st Corinthians 13.12!
Pippa, your comments just keep getting better! You say 'Jared must've been a good father'– one of few in the Bible!
I used to think I'd been a good father, but my 40-something daughter and son have disabused me of that opinion!
Brother Mark, so glad the Lord's Word got you through. Thanks be to God
"Both Enoch and Noah ‘walked faithfully with God’ (Genesis 5:24; 6:9). They didn’t just sit, kneel or stand with God. Those would be the kind of words we would often associate with spending time with God. But they were also in communion with God when they were doing something else. It suggests that while we are doing other things – working, eating, exercising or relaxing, we can be in communion with God."
See 'The Practice of the Presence of God' The Best Rule of Holy Life Brother Lawrence http://www.tochrist.org/Doc/Books/Lawrence/The%20Practice%20of%20the%20P...
I read this little book early in my life… and now I look back in atonishment and realize that I've been practicing it for years now! Glory to God!
This is why God, the Son, came down 'in the cool of the day,' Genesis 3:8, just to talk to the woman and the man. That's why he made them, that's why he made us.
"When I sing I feel his pleasure." Why? Till he incarnated himself he didn't even have EARS! A mystery!
I think the context of Philippians 2.5-11 explains why the mysterious title 'the Son of Man' was Jesus' favorite name for himself. and why he never preached or did mighty works until he was baptized: he had emptied himself, 'heauton ekenôsen,' v.7, and till then he walked as though he were merely a natural man in his flesh; afterwards he walked in the Holy Ghost.
Some would argue, though not Lucy nor Nicky nor I, that the doing mighty works is not for our day. No, rather Jesus means for his Christians all to walk in him, 'walk the walk,' show him to the world; and 'preach the Gospel, talk the talk;' 'with signs following:' Mark 16:20. I'm still working on that…
Love in Christ
TV2
Wow, Ted, I completely concur - thanks! And a big welcome from me too to Annette, and any others who've started this Bible-reading journey. I know there was someone else a few days ago who said she did, and I hope you post a comment again. It's lovely to hold hands together. Though I know it's a really scary feeling the first time you post a comment. The second time isn't scary, though! L xxx
Hello, I'm Marks wife. My name is Sally. I haven't set up my own account yet-so borrowing Mark's. I'm a little worried that I won't keep this up but I really know the blessings of reading God's word regularly, so I will try
Sally, you're so welcome here! How lovely that you're joining in - don't worry about keeping things up, just keep reading a bit on the days you can and join in - even on the days you haven't been able to read a bit, feel free just to say hello or whatever. Loads of love, Lucy xxx