All in Walking with God
Sometimes our spirit leads us into a vulnerable place; one in which we find ourselves alone, and being tempted, or tested. We often experience this when God is teaching us, or preparing us for something new; perhaps a calling. It can happen in those times when we are about to be lead into a new ministry... or God is preparing us to be stretched in some way. Have you ever found yourself experiencing a spiritual wilderness? Are you there now, and don’t really know why?
It is common to hear the expression “walking in faith”, but what does that mean to us? Is walking in faith like an evening stroll after dinner, or a morning exercise before we begin our day? Is it a few minutes each day spent in prayer, or perhaps carving out an hour at the local soup kitchen to serve a meal? If this is our idea of walking by faith then we have simply dipped a spoon into the boiling pot for a taste, when we should have received the nourishment of a full bowl.
How often do you walk with a God? I am not talking about just reading the Bible, attending church, performing works such as feeding the hungry, or praying your needs to Him, but how often do you actually walk with him in conversation? Sometimes we get so busy doing things, and saying things of faith, that we forget that this is not a checklist, or a job, it is a loving relationship, we are children, and that some walks with Him, if we choose to take them, take hours, days, weeks, or longer.
It’s now the day after Christmas, and today we celebrate Jesus, the Christ, living here among us. He has been born, and is growing physically towards the time when He will achieve His mission; God’s plan, and God’s will for Him. This is the same mission He will ultimately give His disciples... take up your cross, and follow me. This is how He sent them, and also how He sends us when he says... go into all the world.
Did we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and then retreat into the privacy of our prayer closet where we remain dormant in our faith? Maybe we visit with Him once or twice during the day, and then turn back to the world. Are we embarrassed to take Him where we go each day, or is it that we are ashamed to let others see that we say we love Him, but remain unchanged? The proof of our faith isn’t in what we say, but how we walk.
How do you perceive your life to be going? Are you in a sailboat sitting on a calm sea, are you in rough water being battered by the wind, or sailing in a fair wind and following sea? Whatever your situation, it is the will of God that you be there at that moment, and you are experiencing something of Him in the process. We might think it good or bad, but God is there at our side, and has led us to be in that place with Him.
Have we confessed our sins, asked forgiveness, and pronounced ourselves believers in Jesus Christ, and yet are not transformed? Do we claim God’s grace, but do nothing more? Well, empty words are like faith without works, hollow and without substance. They are like love without the holding, kisses, and sacrificing of ourselves. We should do more than profess, but live what we have claimed.
Where do you spend your time each day? Do you waste it on frivolous pursuits, or in prayer? Do you read magazines about worldly subjects, or the Bible and other spiritually uplifting material? Do you seek out those places God wills you to visit, or do you wile away your time in ungodly places for no good purpose? How we apportion our time, the activities we pursue, and places we frequent, determines how our faith will grow, and the fruit it will bear. Do we waste our treasure of time, or spend it wisely?