By Jackie Weber
Have you ever noticed all of the walking language in Scripture? Granted, there were no planes, trains, or automobiles at the time the Bible was written, but it seems the walking is worth some pondering.
It begins in the very first pages of Genesis.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
— Genesis 3:8–9
Sometimes the walking is literal; sometimes it is figurative.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on His law he meditates day and night.
— Psalm 1:1
Sometimes the emphasis of the walking is on the journey – a journey with a starting point, all that happens along the way, and a destination. Think of the call of Abraham to leave his country and his father’s house to travel to Canaan and beyond. Think of all that God was accomplishing in him and through him along the way.
Of course, there is also the Exodus. Few would argue the Israelites’ journey out of Egypt and their 40 years of wandering in the desert is not the most prominent ‘walk’ in the Bible. Not unlike in Abraham’s journey, we see God on display, shepherding, shaping, instructing, correcting, revealing Himself, and forming a people and a faith through the process.
These examples of walking are not only about the journey, however. I believe the walking motif in the Bible carries with it a strong thread of relationship as well. Of course, relationship requires presence and connection with the one or ones with whom we journey.
Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters… Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
— Genesis 5:22-24
Think of the relationships – the personal, experiential knowledge of Jesus and one another – that were forged as Jesus and His disciples walked the dusty roads of Judea and Samaria for three years. Those relationships were instrumental in changing the entire world, and they are still changing it today.
Think of how, as they walked the seven and a half miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus after Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples’ minds and hearts were illuminated in ways they had never known by their Savior who walked with them.
Transformation happens as we walk. How we walk and with whom we walk matters. It seems fitting then that our life in Christ, our relationship with God, is so often described as a walk.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner
worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
— Ephesians 4:1-3
This is how we are to walk – with our God and with those entrusted to our care.
By no coincidence, this walking way of life fits seamlessly with the shepherd-sheep metaphor. Consider the strong bond formed between a shepherdess and her sheep as together they traverse grasslands, rocky landscape, and streams, ever vigilant of danger, through beautiful and stormy weather, season after season. We should heed the power of this connection.
How often do I take a walk (literally or figuratively) with my Shepherd and with the godly shepherds He’s put in my life? How am I influencing my fellow sheep around me? Am I in step with His Spirit?
Under-shepherds of the Good Shepherd, may we never grow weary of walking – with God and with others. Because it is in the walking that we are deeply formed into His likeness. And it is in the walking that Jesus will use us to form others.
DIGGING DEEPER QUESTIONS:
- Jackie asks some poignant questions. How often do you take a walk with the Good Shepherd and with other godly shepherds in your life?
- How are you walking (literally or figuratively) with the sheep entrusted to your care?
- Who do you need to schedule a walk with this week?
