Why Walking with God Is Good for You

I’ve heard that if you walk three times a day at a brisk pace, it can help keep you in good shape. Walking is a regulated motion. You won’t move as quickly as if you were running, but as you walk, you make gradual progress.

That’s the picture the Bible often uses to describe walking with God. In fact, there’s an interesting verse in the Old Testament that tells us something important about walking with God: “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3 NKJV).

A lot of meaning is packed into those words. In the original language, the term translated “walk together” indicates moving together as a single unit. It means wanting the same thing. We’re united toward the same goal. We’re putting our strength toward the same end and moving together at the same pace.

Another Old Testament verse says, “The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 NLT).

Also, the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:6–7 NKJV). And to the Galatian churches he said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16 NKJV).

Again and again, the Bible tells us that we need to walk with God. And really, it’s an amazing thing to think about. It means taking all of our resources and saying, “Lord, here’s what I have to bring. I’m bringing my life, my personality, my time, and my future. I’m essentially bringing everything I am.”

Meanwhile, God is saying, “OK, here’s what I bring to the table. I bring My omniscience. I bring My unlimited power and my grace. I bring all that I have.”

In a way, it would be like someone who’s homeless going into business with Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos.

When you go into business with someone, it means that you pool your resources. Maybe you have two competing businesses, and one day you say, “If we cooperated instead of competing, we could own this business for this area. What do you think?” You agree on it. Then you draw up the contracts and pool your resources. And suddenly you’ve broadened your base.

So when we walk with God, it means that we offer our resources to Him. We stay in harmony with Him. We move in the same direction that He moves.

Psalm 1 also teaches us about walking with God, and the theme of this psalm is happiness. It begins by saying, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful” (verse 1 NKJV).

The word blessed means “happy.” So if you want to be happy, then follow the principles in this psalm. Not only does it warn us of things that would hinder our walk with God, but it goes on to tell us the things we should do that will encourage our walk with God.

I’m reminded of a question someone asked when they called in to a Christian radio station. “I just became a Christian,” the caller said. “I was wondering what Christians do for fun? I used to do a lot of things I don’t think I ought to do anymore. I used to party and get loaded. I shouldn’t do that. What do you Christians do to have fun?”

What a great question. I loved how candid it was.

When you become a Christian, you have a completely different view of life. It changes everything about you. In fact, I think Christians have more fun because they don’t need false stimulants. They don’t need to be high or drunk or under the influence of something to have fun.

When you’re a Christian, you’re in harmony with the God who made you, and that barrier called sin that separated you from him has been removed. It’s like going from black and white to living color. Life changes. Everything is different.

The Bible says that God “gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17 NKJV). Christians can appreciate the simple things in life and find more pleasure, more fulfillment. It isn’t because we’re looking to things, but we’re looking to God.

We also want to avoid what will hurt us spiritually because not only are there things that will build us up, but there are also things that will tear us down.

Here are three questions to keep in mind—three litmus tests, if you will—to apply when a question comes up about what a Christian should or should not do.

Does it build you up spiritually? Anything that would tear you down spiritually, anything that would dull your hunger for the Bible, the Word of God, and anything that would keep you from Christian fellowship or take the edge off your desire for prayer should be avoided at all costs.

Does it bring you under its power? So many things can bring us under their power and become more important to us than God. It could be alcohol. It could be television, social media, music, or possessions. Don’t come under the power of anything or anyone but Jesus Christ.

Do you have an uneasy conscience about it? A Christian has the freedom to do certain things that may not be as detrimental as they would be to someone else perhaps. But if you feel uneasy about something, don’t try to rationalize it. If you don’t feel right about it, then just don’t do it.

The writer of Psalm 1 contrasts the blessed (or happy) person, who is like a firmly planted, fruit-bearing tree, with the nonbeliever: “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away” (verse 4 NKJV).

Years ago the rock band Kansas sang, “Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.” However, God says that you can have a relationship with Him. You can discover His plan and purpose for your life. And He will give you the hope of Heaven and life beyond the grave.

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Learn more about Pastor Greg Laurie.

This article was originally published at WND.com.