WALKING AND PRAYING MY WAY TO ISRAEL

Well, today was day two of my walk in preparation for the trip to Israel. I invite you to walk with me. Your immediate destination may not be Israel or Jerusalem, but your ultimate destination should be that heavenly city that John saw in Revelation 21: "1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

By the Way I pondered upon the whole idea of walking, particularly a passage of Scripture in Genesis 5:"24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."

Not much is known about Enoch, but what we do know is vitally important. There are many in the Bible that it is said of them, “they walked with God,” but this is the first person the Bible mentions in that respect.

Walking, unlike other things we do is strictly voluntary. Our heart is an involuntary muscle. Our breathing is done by involuntary muscles. Our heart beats and we breathe while we are asleep or awake. But walking requires a decision. I make the decision to walk physically and I make the decision to walk with the Lord. I make a decision each day to be disciplined enough to do what I have already decided to do.

Walking with God implies several things.

1) First it implies progress. I am not stuck in one place but I am moving. And I am moving toward a goal. I am moving in the right direction. Enoch was not just walking, he was walking with God. He was not running ahead of God, nor was he lagging behind. He was walking with God.

2) Second of all it implies effort. The Christian life is not a sprint, but a marathon. It takes effort and energy all the way to the end. I noticed I was somewhat sore from yesterday’s workout, so it took a bit more effort today.

When we make the spiritual application, we are promised the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit to make that walk. We could not make it without Him

3) Thirdly it implies relationship. God asked Amos in Amos 3:"3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" There is no question but that Enoch had an intimate relationship with the Father. We must have that relationship (a personal relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ) if we are to walk with him. We must be in unity and agreement with our Lord. I wonder if the reason our devotional life suffers, and we find ourselves not walking with the Lord, is because there is something in our life and heart that is not in agreement with God.

I noticed as I walked today in the mall, there were some couples walking and they would deliberately speed up or slow down so they could stay together. They were walking together. God loves it when we walk in lock step with Him

4) Finally, it implies communion. Can you imagine Enoch and God walking together and not talking to each other? Of course not. There were probably times of silence, just to enjoy each others presence. We need to do that in our devotional time with God. We need to listen to God and not do all the talking ourselves. But then there are those times of deep expressions of our desires, of our needs and of our feelings. There are times when we just need to tell the Lord how we feel about Him. And we need to hear ourselves say it. Oh, yes, the communion was sweet

There is one other thing. It is important to enjoy the trip. Maybe these days of preparation are as important as being in Israel itself. How may of us remember our children’s incessant question when we were on long road trips, “are we there yet?” God wants us to enjoy the trip as well as the destination

THOT: A PERSON WALKS A LONELY ROAD WHEN THEY WALK BY THEMSELVES