Even though our surroundings in this world have been marred by the sins we have committed, God has made it possible for us to walk with Him. We can live our lives in such a manner that our actions and decisions make us a companion with the very God that has created the entire universe! The possibility of being in such a relationship suggests some important truths about God Himself, does it not? More specifically, it suggests some important truths about our lives and how it relates to God, right?
For one thing, it is truly incredible that God offers to every single one of us the possibility of walking with Him. No matter what we have done or how horribly any of us have wrecked our pasts, God is merciful and willing for us to walk with Him the rest of the way to our spiritual home. However, we can only walk with Him to that spiritual home if we’ll accept His pardon on His terms. This privilege is not limited to those born into any certain class of people, nor does it require any special intellectual level. There is no chosen civilization that is given this amazing privilege, and even those at a low intellectual level can receive this gift. Walking with God just means that we faithfully follow the truth God reveals to us. It’s up to us to use this truth in a righteous manner. Famous American theologian Tyron Edwards once said, “What we need in religion is not a new light, but new sight; not new paths, but new strength to walk in the old ones; not new duties, but new strength from on high to fulfill those that are plain to us.”
Therefore, if there can be such a thing as walking with God, there must also be such a thing as not walking with Him. If, for example, the lifestyle of Enoch’s evil and selfish peers was considered just as much a walk with God as that of Enoch himself, then the statement, “Enoch walked with God” would mean very little. But surely this is not a meaningless statement. We are being told that Enoch made certain choices concerning his relationship with God. Not only that, but he did so in a time that others could not care less what God thought of their life choices. These choices resulted in a “walk” that would have been impossible if Enoch lived like those around him. To realize this and apply it to our lives is to be thinking clearly and honestly about who we are spiritually.
Neither the freedom of walking with God nor the destination can be ours without true repentance and redirection of our hearts. Nineteenth-century minister George MacDonald, who inspired authors such as C. S. Lewis, understood this and once said in a sermon, “Father, set me free in the glory of thy will so that I will only as thou willest. Thy will be at once thy perfection and mine. Thou alone art deliverance — absolute safety from every cause and kind of trouble that ever existed, anywhere now exists, or ever can exist in thy universe.”
Oren Caskey
