Keep Walking

I have recently completed my two volume book, This is the Way; Walk in It. This work is a series of essays on how to walk in God’s way, whether you turn to the left or the right. God continues to guide us if we seek Him and follow His direction and lead. God’s word, the Bible gives us His directions and through the Holy Spirit we receive more clear illumination if we trust in Him. In fact the “Counselor, The Spirit of the Truth…will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (speaking of Jesus)” (John 14:15,17,26). The Holy Spirit will “Guide us in all truth” as John 16 tells us. So what is a Christian to do in this world that is getting darker every day, as we seem to lose our moral compass? We are to “keep walking.”

How are we to keep walking? God tells us in the Bible concerning His words. “Teach them; talking about them when you sit at home and walk along the road; when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 11:10). God is telling us to continually be speaking His words and to be teaching them to our children and children’s children. Proverbs 4:20-22 tells us concerning God’s Word, “My son, pay attention to what I say, listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.” These words tell us to “Come all who are thirsty, come to the waters…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and the purposes for what I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). 

God is saying that, “His divine power has given us all we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and goodness” (2Peter 1:3). In this chapter He is telling us about His great and precious promises as given in Scripture so that we may participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires. All we need to do is ask God and He will give it to us. “This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask where the good way is, and walk it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). We are always at a crossroads of some sort where we need to make a decision for the next step. God will give us the direction. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). This is the theme verse of my book, This is the Way; Walk in It. We are always to be listening for the still small voice like Elijah finally heard in 1 Kings 19:11-13 when he obeyed God and went out to stand on the mountain. He was exhausted from running away from King Ahab and Jezebel. He was to stand in the Lord’s presence when He passed by. He could not hear Him in the earthquake or strong wind, but only in the “gentle whisper.” The same goes for us.

“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” This quote is from C.S. Lewis’ book The Problem of Pain. We need to be listening; God does speak. The psalmist says, “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah” (Psalm 95:8). This is a psalm written by a Levite calling people to prayer and worship. It is a reminder that the Israelites had hardened their hearts against Moses and God in the desert. They were stiff-necked and did not listen or obey. As a result all of that generation but two died in the wilderness. We too are often in the wilderness of life and need to listen to God so as to get through. That is why God wrote so much about trouble and His guidance. Psalm 23 is perhaps the most familiar verse regarding trouble, “even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death you shall fear no evil for I am with you, my rod and my staff they comfort you.” That is the story of life, walking through the valleys. We will be in them most of the time and we need to heed God’s call to us when we are walking and that we will get through, so don’t fear.

I could write much more on “Keep Walking.” Suffice it to say, you can find more in my blog, www.greatisgodsfaithfulness.com every day. I deal with the exigencies of life and God’s guidance through them. So keep walking in 2016, Immanuel, God is with you.