The Christian Walk - The Basics

The Bible says that our relationship with God is like a Christian walk:

From the start, Genesis talks about certain people who walked with God. (Gen. 5:22; 6:9; 48:15)

Jesus asks us to follow Him and go where He went. (1 Pet. 2:21)

We are told to walk according to the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)

"Walk in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called," we are told (Eph. 4:1, NASB).

Why does the Christian life feel like a walk?

When we stop to think about what it takes to walk, we can see some similarities with the Christian life.

1) It takes time.

We put one foot in front of the other when we walk. In the same way, spiritual growth is a process, not something that happens all at once.

2) The process needs to be in balance.

When babies start to learn how to walk, they have trouble keeping their balance. They fall down a lot and have to try again. In the same way, spiritual babies find their balance as they move toward Christ, who will continue to pick them up as they learn to walk in Him.

3) It's a process that requires moving around and keeping your balance at the same time.

We can walk in place, but most of the time when we walk, we move forward, making steady progress from one place to another. Spiritual growth is the only way to become more mature. In the Christian life, to stand still is to become lazy and slow.

4) Keeping our balance while we move is a process that requires faith.

When we walk, we lift one foot off the ground and put our weight on the other foot, trusting that it will keep us standing. Without faith, it's not only impossible to please God, but also to really live the Christian life (Heb. 11).

5) It's a process that needs our brains to talk to our heads.

Our brains tell our legs what to do by sending messages through the central nervous system. The way we walk can be changed by a blockage of some kind. If we, as Christians, don't submit to Jesus Christ, the Head, our Christian lives will never be what they should or could be.

Some people find it hard to walk in a way that is worthy of our Lord. In the next post, we'll look at that.