Ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao-tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It’s so true! We tend to think, “A thousand miles?!” Are you crazy?? and won’t want to even try. Just the thought of all that walking can cause our feet to swell! There’s something about a walk-short or long. Like walking around one’s neighborhood or in a park or a lake, or down abandoned train tracks. A line from the 1972 song, Ventura Highway (America) goes, “Chewing on a piece of grass walking down the road…” conveying a relaxed, worry-free feeling that comes with a brisk walk. It’s one I can relate to when, in high school I would walk with a piece of grass 2 ¾ miles to school in the mornings and back home after track practice.
In a different type of walk, there are thousands of people out there saying they have “tried” Jesus, but He didn’t work out. Most likely, those people tried Jesus according to a church group’s rules or from a solo perspective. From a church group, they tried keeping a to-do list as well as a not-to-do list. From a solo perspective, most would say they tried their best at being good and pleasing God. Neither way will bring satisfactory results. When trying to follow a list one tends to want to get it all done as fast as possible.
Walking with God is not a walk in the park. It’s a journey. It might be a thousand miles or it may be several million miles. The point is it’s not mileage points that count, or how many miles-to-the gallon one gets. It’s about the walk itself. This is a lifetime commitment. Like marriage, your life and understanding will change the longer you walk with your spouse, or in this case, with God.
We can’t rush a lifetime walk. We can’t condense it into a few weeks and then expect miraculous results to start pouring in.
Enoch’s walk with God was so pleasing to Him that God translated him to heaven without dying (Genesis 5:24). With Elijah, God sent a chariot of fire with horses of fire and without dying, Elijah went to heaven in a whirlwind (2Kings 2:11). Since no one else has had this type of experience, it’s not likely you will either-unless of course, we’re around when God calls us all home in the Rapture of the church! In this walk with God there will be many obstacles. We need to keep our focus on Jesus. It’s not about getting rich, having great looks, being popular, or knowing it all. If we do have these features, great, but they’re not important at this point. So, what is? It’s your integrity, your commitment to God and others. It’s about faithfulness to God and to those depending on us. It’s about truthfulness. It’s about worshiping God and believing in Him.
In the movie, The Walk the true-story is told about Philippe Petit’s daring attempt to tightrope walk across the brand-new NY Twin Towers in the 1970s. If you watch the movie, you’ll see as all obstacles are cleared from his mind and how his focus becomes clearer as he sees his goal: the other side. Similar to our daily obstacles and tumbles in life, Philippe tunes out every sound below and is able to lie on his back and rise to his feet with nothing to hold on to. He was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of walking in the heights.
You and I can walk in the high places too. “The Lord God is my strength, and he has made my feet like hind’s feet, and makes me walk on my high places” (Habakkuk 3:19). Our life is not in this world. Our walk is in the spiritual realm where our battles also take place. But we can’t walk with our heads in the clouds and ignore our feet in the world. We need to be real here on earth. But our focus needs to be in heaven. When we serve Him, he translates us from here to the heavenly realm. (God) “has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14). Begin your journey.
God Bless!
Sam