Walk Together

How can two walk together unless they agree? Amos 3:3
 

A wise sage said, "If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together!"  Enoch walked with God for 365 years.  Over the course of his lifetime Enoch was able to travel a long way, because he chose to walk with God, rather than try to attempt to navigate the stormy seas of life, on His own.  Enoch's journey was further sustained because of the added strength afforded by his "walking buddy". 

From the very beginning, God instituted partnership and companionship.  It is not good for man to be alone.  So God made a help meet for man. Gen 2:18.

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.  Eccl 4:9 Their work is exponentially multiplied .  One can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight. Deut 32:30 You accomplish much more when you work together.  You work harder because you don't want the shame of not carrying your share of the load. You are also inherently aware that if you do tire down or even tire out, you are able to "borrow" essential energy from the encouragement that exudes from collaboration.  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. Eccl.  4:10

Jesus also sent his disciples out in pairs.  We know one main reason was accountability.  You are more likely to stay the course and finish the task when you have a holy, helpful hand holding you to your word and responsibilities.  Another reason  was the established testimony of two witnesses.  A third and probably less realized reason was protection. 
What can easily defeat one, has much more difficulty defeating two.  A three stranded chord is not easily broken.  Eccl 4:12.  You are able to travel far because of your different struggles and vices.  You can intervene, intercept, and intercede one for the other.  
 

Throughout biblical antiquity men have coupled together to do ministry.   Moses & Aaron, Joshua & Caleb, David & Jonathan, Paul & Silas, Peter & John, etc.  Your walk with God is demonstrated by how well you walk with your brothers and sisters.  By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.  John 13:35 

"We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand, side by side, and they'll know we are Christians by our love."

 

  

"Walk This Way"

Thus saith the LORD, “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”  But they said, “We will not walk therein.”  -Jeremiah 6:16

It is a dark, deplorable, and dangerous disposition to know the right way to go and choose instead to go the wrong way.  Certainly there are couples right now bearing the marks of an unnecessary argument because one thought they knew the way, and the other thought they needed to stop and ask for directions.  And the only winner was pride, who refused to allow either party be incorrect.

 A few years ago at the first annual Charles E  Booth expository preaching conference, Dr. John Kenny from Virginia Union explained to us that his chiropractic Doctor could locate his pain and consequently could pinpoint where he was having trouble and needed help simply by watching him walk.   Our spiritual lives are so unique in the sense that the only one who can tell we need improvements and adjustments is God.  Sometimes even we ourselves are unaware of where we are limping along and struggling to walk a spiritually straight line.  It is only as we examine ourselves in the mirror of prayer and stand ourselves up against the standard of scripture and follow the divine prognosis administered by the Holy Spirit that we are able to walk in a way that honors and glorifies God and illuminates the dark, narrow path for our brethren who follow us. And because we have grown accustomed and acclimated to the way that we walk, both spiritual and physical adjustments to straighten our walks are painfully disruptive and our bodies always rebel against walking in righteousness (the right way).                                                                                                                      

In the natural we have physical therapists, who train our bodies to walk straight after corrective surgery.  In the spiritual realm, we have preachers, teachers, parents and peers, who stay on us in an attempt to hold us accountable, in order to keep us on our spiritual regimen.  I'm so glad that God is not only a divine orthopedic surgeon that corrects my steps, he is also a divine navigator who directs my steps so that I'm always found traveling in the direction of his will and his way.

In the African-American homiletical tradition there is a parable of poetic license that says, "Enoch walked with God every day.  Every day these enjoyable walks with God would grow increasingly longer.  Finally, one evening after they have been walking together all day, God saw how far Enoch was from his own home.  God also noticed how close they were to His house.  So God looked at Enoch and God saw that Enoch was closer to His house than to Enoch’s house.  God kindly suggests to Enoch, “Since you are closer to my house than your own house, why don't you just come and stay at my house?”  The rest is Biblical history.

Today, why don't you make up your mind to walk closer to God?  Why don’t you decide to walk further and go longer with God after each "correction"?

You, too, can end your journey walking with God accepting a personal invitation to live in His house, forever.

Advancing the Kingdom,

RLL

A Walk To Remember

"A Walk to Remember"

Genesis 5:24

If you were alive, July 16th, 1969, you probably remember the countdown of Apollo 11, as it blasted off from earth to embark on a 250,000 mile journey towards the moon.  Four days later the “Eagle” module separated from the command module and made its daring and daunting descent towards the moon.  That’s when 38 year old, Neil Armstrong, a legendary American hero and unquestionably the world’s most famous astronaut, who now sleeps the long sleep, spake these memorable words, “Tranquility Base here, (static) the Eagle has landed.”  About six and a half hours later at 10:56pm eastern standard time on July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon.  That’s when he uttered the now-famous phrase: “That’s one small step for man, (static) one giant leap for mankind.”  I wasn’t alive, but if you were, I’m sure that was a walk you’ll always remember. 

 I am sure if the technology were readily available, Enoch could have sent the same unforgettable message as he was transferred or translated from temporal and terrestrial to eternal and ethereal.  He didn't walk on the moon, but He too walked where no man had ever walked before.  One major noticeable difference is Neil Armstrong returned to tell his story.   Enoch never returned and his remains were never found.  He was here one day and then he was gone, because God took him.  (Genesis 5:24).

 Have you ever considered what was so memorable and mesmerizing about Enoch's life that it is left in Biblical Memorial,  in the obituary section of the Bible?  What was it about Enoch's life that honored God to the extent that God honored Enoch to never see death?  

The writer to the Hebrews in Chapter 11:5-6 helps us decipher some of the bio data deposited on the dash between Enoch's birth and his translation.  Enoch had a faithful walk.   It says his pre-translation testimony was he pleased God because of his faithfulness.  But without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:5-6)  Enoch had a focused life.  Gen 5:22 says Enoch walked with God for three hundred years after the birth of his son. This is not to highlight the duration of his walk, but the depth of his discipline, determination, and decision to walk with God for the rest of his life.  Enoch had a fruitful walk. He had other sons and daughters.  If Enoch had accomplished nothing else, at least he left a rich legacy of righteous living for his children who saw their father walk with God every single day of his life. Enoch had a fearless walk.  He stood for righteousness when no one else in this antediluvian age would.   He stood for and spoke of the imminent judgement of God on the ungodly in a time when everyone was practicing pragmatism: everyone did what was right in their own eyes.  Enoch had a walk worth following.  Enoch and Noah were the only two persons in over ten generations of a family to be characterized as having walked with God.  

Enoch had faithful, fruitful, focused, and fearless footsteps that will forever serve future generations as a paradigm to follow and that pleases God.  

What kind of footprints are you leaving in the sands of time that will impact your generation?  Make your walk one that God and the people of God will always remember. 

Welcome to "A Walk Like Enoch" blog by Robert L. Lyons.