Theology Thursday: Walking With God

God desires fellowship with His creation. What that means for us is that God seeks us out as He did Adam in the Garden of Eden. He guides us through hard times as he did for Noah and gives us a hope for our future, as we see with Enoch.

Through Jesus Christ, we have a special relationship with God who dwells among us. We never have to question, “Where is God?” He is always right there, walking with us through all that we face in this life.

Biblical Foundation for God Walking With His People

The Bible references several places where God walked with or among humans. The first one is in the Garden of Eden. There, God is calling out to Adam and Eve, who have sinned and are hiding from him. In context, we get the idea that God was visiting them and desired to spend time in their presence.

The second time we read about God walking with humans is with Enoch. In this story, very little is said about Enoch in the Bible except that Enoch walked with God for three hundred plus years, and then, “He was no more because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24).

The last time we read about God walking with humans in the Old Testament is in the story of Noah, who “walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9).

Of course, God was with the Israelites in the exodus and dwelled with them in the tabernacle and later, Solomon’s temple. But the next time we read about God walking with someone is in the New Testament.

Jesus walked with his disciples throughout his ministry. He gathered people to himself, healed them, taught them and prepared them for a time when he would no longer physically be with them.

Walking With God Today

As Christians, God dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, which means He is with us just as when Jesus walked on the earth. We get to experience His presence just as the disciples did! His presence means several things for the Christian in this life.

God Seeks Us

First, walking with God means He will seek us out if we slip back into our old ways. Like Adam and Eve, we can’t hide from an all-knowing God. But we should take comfort knowing that no matter what we do, God still wants to be by our side.

Leaning on God

God walking with us also means that like Noah, we can trust that God will guide us through hard times. If we lose someone we love, Jesus is going through it with us. If we’re suffering the pain of broken relationships, Jesus is there to comfort us if we just speak to him. Like Noah, we are also guided through dark times. There are many Christians who bemoan the current state of the country or the world. But we need not worry. God is walking with us every step of the way. Nothing takes God by surprise.

A Great Future With God

Walking with God gives us the hope that like Enoch, one day we will simply “be no more.” God by our side is a reminder that we do not belong to this world. We are here only until God calls us to Him.

Until that day comes, however, we get to experience God in a special way when Christians come together in worship. Like Israel of old, we do not have to question where our God is. He is right there in our midst.

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