Hello friends! Now that we’re almost a week into April, is it feeling like spring where you are?
My husband and I went to Lowes on Saturday night and I bought a couple of plants for our front porch. I put them next to the bench that’s there and now I’m wanting to add a couple of spring pillows. That’s about the extent of what I do on the outside of the house to celebrate the arrival of spring!
Sometimes I like to do word studies during my Bible reading time. For the past week or so, I’ve been focusing on the word “walk.”
I use a free online concordance to find all the Bible verses that have the word “walk” in them and read through a few each day. Often I’ll take one of the verses and delve a little deeper by reading a few online commentaries about it and then writing down my thoughts on how that verse applies to me.
I was actually surprised by how many verses there are that refer to walking with God or walking in His ways. Today I wanted to share some of the verses I’ve found in the Old Testament that are better helping me understand what it means to walk with the Lord.
“Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” ~Deuteronomy 13:4
What does this verse tell us that it means to walk with the Lord?
1. Fear God.
Just as wisdom begins with fearing God (Proverbs 9:10), so does our walk with the Lord. We are to reverence Him, to stand in awe of His might and power, and give Him the glory and honor that He deserves.
2. Keep His commandments.
We need to get to know God if we want to walk with Him. As we learn about God through His Word, we’ll also find out how He wants us to live. The Bible gives us His commandments. Our job then is to keep them.
3. Obey His voice.
Obedience is an easy word to throw out there but not always easy to do! At times what we naturally want to do goes against what we believe God is asking us to do.
If you’re a mom, you’ve certainly seen this play out in your children, especially when they’re younger. There are times they obey on the outside, but you can tell they’re rebelling on the inside!
Our obedience should involve our actions and our attitudes.
“And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed forever.” ~1 Samuel 2:35
What if it could be said of us that we do all that is in God’s heart and in His mind? Surely that’s the highest level of obedience.
4. Serve Him.
“But take diligent heed to do the commandment…to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” ~Joshua 22:5
Walking with the Lord doesn’t include half-hearted service. We should do what we do for God with all of our heart and all our soul.
This verse also says we’re to walk in all His ways. We don’t get to pick and choose which parts of His Word we want to follow.
5. Cleave to Him.
Cleave isn’t a word we use much anymore, but in the Bible, it means to cling or adhere to someone. As we walk with the Lord, we’ll desire to be close to Him. We will find joy and peace in His presence.
And one of the most encouraging verses I found about walking with God is 1 Kings 8:36.
“Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk…“
We can be taught how we should walk! If our spirit is humble and willing, God, through His Holy Spirit, can teach us how to walk with the Lord.
Here are two summaries I like of what it means to walk with God.
The Jamieson-Faussett-Brown commentary defines it as to “…please and obey God in all things, depending on Him for our well-doing and well-being.“
In his commentary, Benson says that walking with God “…is to have a constant regard to his word as our rule, and to his glory as our end, in all our actions.“
I’m not a Bible commentator, but here’s my very basic summary of what it means to walk with the Lord!
Obey His commandments and have faith in His promises.
May we all desire to walk with the Lord and may He give us the grace to do so.
Related posts:
- What Does It Really Mean to Rejoice in the Lord?
- 7 Steps to Becoming a Wise Woman: Fear the Lord
- 10 Things We Can Know About God’s Goodness
Happy belated birthday, Tracey! I hope you had a great day!
Walking with the Lord is one of those terms that we use a lot as Christians, but that we may not quite understand. Thanks for taking the time to unpack and explain it!
I have read a couple of excellent books lately: A Place to Hang the Moon and The Last Bookshop in London.
Thank you!! I had a very nice birthday.
The Last Bookshop in London is on my list to read soon and I’ll have to check out that other title, too!
I like focusing on the fact that “walk” is an action verb – there’s nothing passive about it. To walk with the Lord literally takes constant movement towards Him on our parts.
Yes, that is so true – walking equals taking action!!