Genesis 5:21-24 Walking With God

It says that one has turned from his own selfish ambitions and methods and has been able to learn from God those things which are required for Godly living. To walk with God indicates an intimacy with God, not a casualness nor a familiarity which is unseemly, as we so often see in today's "pop theology". This intimacy includes reverence, adoration, love and, it seems, a love which is manifested and experienced from both parties to the other. To "walk with God" is to restore what was lost in the garden when our first parents hid from God.

But how can this be? We who are corrupted by sin and who live in sinful conditions can never hope to achieve any level of godliness. Even when God has undertaken in our behalf and caused us to be born again we fall short, certainly in the eyes of others but even in our own eyes.

Psalm 119 gives us the answer. It begins by discussing the blameless, those who walk according to the law of the Lord. Psalm 119 is a wonderful summary of the work of God's Word by His Holy Spirit. Here are but a few of the things necessary to truly "walk with God" as given in this Psalm.

• Keep God's statues, seek Him with all your heart. A heart that longs to be steadfast to obey the Lord.
• A desire to praise God with an upright heart.
• How can a young man remain pure? By living according to God's Word.
• Seek God with your whole heart. That means that He takes precedence and gets a higher priority than anything else.
• Hide the Word of God in your heart, it will aid you to not sin against God.
• Meditation: the regular, systematic, quiet immersion of your soul (mind, will intellect and emotion) in God's Word.
• Know your utter dependence upon God for all of this, that God must "do good unto your servant" (verse 17), i.e. He must open our eyes to see His wonderful Word.

As you read the psalm you will find a heart that longs for God's presence and holiness. I must confess that I am often distracted from the goal of walking with God and displaying His holiness in my life. Too often we treat that as a little thing. Perhaps it is something to be sad about but, as long as we are going to heaven anyway, it isn't really vital that we be holy and walk with God. But then, what of our witness? What of the impact God wants to have through us? Is it a small thing that God's children grow away from Him? Let us repent and seek Him with our whole heart.

"Lord, I acknowledge and agree with you that I have failed to seek you with my whole heart. I've too often allowed the cares, concerns and the ways of this world come between us and prevent me from your call on my life. Forgive and cleanse me. Grant me the power to do that which you ask. Give me a hunger for your truth, your Word is truth. Perfect me that I might glorify your name. May it be true that others will see the good works of your children and give glory to you. I pray in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen"

May it be said of each of you, when the Lord takes you home, that you "walked with God".

Shalom;

Bob Goldsby