Being Careful with Our Walk
A few days ago, while getting my nails done at the salon, a young woman came in with a full cast on her arm. She asked for her gel nails to be removed because of an upcoming surgery. Being the nosey, wanna’-know gal that I am, I asked what happened. She said she fell on the ice during the early February sleet and ice storm. Her elbow was broken into. Friday, she had surgery to reconnect her elbow with pins. God bless her!
That reminded me of my precious mother who made it to 94 without ever breaking any body parts from a fall. She had an intense awareness of obstacles in her pathways. That meant while I bounded ahead of her in my long strides, I would have to slow down because she focused on the ground when she walked. She was determined to never fall – especially when so many of her friends had fallen and bore the consequences.
Not following my Mom’s wisdom, I have fallen many times. In fact, have face planted when walking on the street because of a rise in the concrete or tripped over a curb when I was looking at mail. Slam, bam, no thank you, M’am! Now I’m purposing to be more like Mom!
This scripture came to mind as I typed this blog: “So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise….” (Ephesians 5:15) I think that verse is applicable to a literal walk, as well as our Christian “walk”. The enemy of our souls has planted traps to wipe us out. There are dangerous and shifting sidewalks and potholes and rough terrain that can cause our faith to tumble. To navigate safely through, we must be careful. We must have a means of direction, a source of power, and pay close attention to our steps.
I believe the Apostle Paul was speaking from experience when he told us to “be careful how you walk” in a world that is morally and spiritually dark. The light of Christ shines big in us to light up the darkness and make us very aware of the slippery slopes of the world. Never should our lights blend in with the darkness. Rather our lights should expose the snares of darkness and be so bright others are drawn to them.
In Paul’s day, people didn’t just walk for exercise. They walked to get to a destination. Of course, there were reasons to speak about the perils of walking. A spiritual walk pictures steady progress toward a definite goal. “Look carefully” implies that we have the potential to be careless about how we walk, how we spend our time each day, the friends we spend our time with and all the other influences that could cause us to stumble.
Here’s the best news! The closer we are to God – the safer we are in our daily walk. My determined purpose is not to just talk the talk, but to walk the walk of faith and complete surrender to God’s will for my life. To be very aware of the enemy’s tactics to take me out – yes, but to be more aware of God’s grace, faithfulness, love, peace, joy, hope and LIGHT.
In John 8:12, Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not WALK in darkness, but will have the light of life.” This old Gospel hymn, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” is fitting for this blog today. It is my prayer for you and me.
“I am weak but Thou art strong
Jesus, keep me from all wrong
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.”