Walking With Jesus – Greg Albrecht
During Jesus’ earthly life, walking was the primary and popular form of transit. Most people traveled from point “A” to point “B” by walking. If they needed food, they didn’t walk out the front door and get in their car, nor did they step out the front door and hop on their donkey and go to their local Super-Sol/Super-Sal (the largest supermarket chain in Israel today). They didn’t call Door Dash, Grubhub or Uber Eats for a home delivery. They walked.
There are of course times when the word “walk” is used in the Bible in a literal sense, describing how people moved their bodies on foot from one place to another.
But the Bible also uses the word “walk” in a metaphorical or symbolic way—when used in this manner, the word “walk” has to do with following a course of action or a way of life.
Older versions of the Bible like the King James Version of 1611 use the word “walk” in such a way while a modern version may speak of living a “way of life.”
• Walking With Jesus is a life-long commitment—a way of living. Walking With Jesus is not a short leisurely stroll through our neighborhood, but a long-term endeavor. It is not a “walk in the park” or a “day at the beach.” It is not a hobby we try and then discard when we lose interest.
As Christ-followers, we often think of the Old Testament example of the nation of Israel when, having left the nation of Egypt where they were enslaved, started a 40-year journey in the wilderness as they were on their way to the Promised Land.
Many of the adult Israelites who left Egypt did not have 40 years of life left on this earth. Their journey in the wilderness was a lifelong commitment—all but two (Joshua and Caleb) never crossed the Jordan River
into the Promised Land.
To this very day, we live in desert places—spiritually parched places—on this earth.
Through our risen Lord who lives within us, we are given the kingdom of God in our hearts and souls even while we struggle to live and eventually die in the wilderness, still longing for the Promised Land—the fullness of the kingdom of God.
The Christ-centered journey we are on, as we walk with him and he with us, does not find its goal in our temporary sojourn here on earth—but in a new heaven and a new earth.
Like Abraham, we seek for and travel toward a city whose builder and maker and architect is God (Hebrews 11:8-16).
Do not be deceived! The road toward the kingdom of heaven is not defined or laid down by religious construction crews—the road is Jesus and the destination is Jesus.
• Walking With Jesus means that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Our physical vision is not an accurate navigational device in Walking With Jesus. Employing human logic, cognition, vision and all our senses, we would often choose another direction and think we are following Jesus.
So many people who dogmatically claim to speak for God and know exactly how God wishes for them to order their lives are actually speaking out of their disordered desires and dressing them up as “God’s will.”
There is nothing easy whatsoever about walking with Jesus—it means walking the narrow and difficult road, not the broad and easy four, six or eight lane highway. More often than not, the Jesus Way is not the path we would naturally choose.
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