What Does it Mean to Walk - Megan Lemmons

I’m always struck by how action-oriented the Bible describes humanity's relationship with God. In God’s original design found in Genesis, it says that He walked with creation in the cool of the day. As the people of God awaited the day they would enter into the promised land in the Old Testament, they walked in the wilderness being led by God. Jesus’s invitation to his disciples is to come and follow him. All of this reminds us that faith in Jesus isn’t simply about thinking the right things, but allowing not only our minds to be transformed but also allowing the way we live to be transformed by our relationship with Jesus.

Does the idea of a lived-out faith make you think of a list of religious obligations you now need to incorporate into your life by sheer willpower? And yet, the descriptions of a lived-out faith we see in scripture look way less like a to-do list and much more like spending time with someone we love.

Matthew 11:28-30 says,"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

A faith lived out with Jesus means we spend time in the presence of the one who loves us enough to help us recover our lives and allow His ways to transform how we live! It looks like walking with Him, working with Him, being with Him.

In the season of life that you are in, how are you walking with Jesus? What does spending time with Him look like? In what ways is your time with Him shaping the way you live?

My hope is that the life of faith never feels like a list of obligations but rather an adventurous invitation to walk in the ways of Jesus and see how our lives and our world are transformed!

 

Megan Lemmons 
Pastor of Community Life & Teaching | Willamette Christian Church