1 John 2:6 – Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

THEME OF THE DAY: DO THEY NOTICE OUR WALK? Every person has mannerisms. One is found in how we walk. Take some time in a public place and notice the various gaits put forth from people. Some are fast-paced; others at a snail’s pace. Others may walk with a limp while others seem to just glide along.

There is another walk among us. It is spiritual; our walk with the Lord. The word “walk” is used extensively in the New Testament to describe the life of a Christian. If one does a study of the word in the writings of the Apostle Paul, it appears eighteen times. This was a favorite description used by him to describe the Christian life. The Apostle John also refers to our life in Christ with the word “walk” multiple times in his epistles. One of those occurrences is in today’s scripture.

So, how’s our walk with the Lord today? How goes our spiritual gait around the people who are observing us? What are they seeing? Is it spiritually healthy showing signs we are in fellowship with the Lord and portraying Him to them? Or is there a “spiritual limp” in our step caused by worldliness and spiritual neglect? In the physical realm, if an injury or disease affects our feet or legs, it shows in our walks. It will be noticeably not normal or even incapacitated. The same applies in the spiritual realm. We cannot “fake” a healthy spiritual walk. Oh, we can go through the motions for a little while, like church attendance, but sooner or later, the “pain” of being spiritually crippled through spiritual neglect will appear. And how will that revelation appear? Absenteeism. Spiritually crippled Christians will avoid close relationships with healthy Christians in things of the Lord – prayer, study of the Word, Gospel service, fellowship around Christ, and mutual accountability. The last thing crippled Christians want is the company of healthy Christians. Such presence produces conviction of an unhealthy walk.

When it comes to the Christian’s walk, use today’s scripture as a test. The Apostle John is telling us, “If we say we belong to Christ then people should see us walking as Christ.” And how would we define such a walk? There are many scriptural directions we may take, but the paramount one is this; to walk in the world as Jesus, our walk is to be a walk of love. This is what marked the Lord Jesus. He was God in the flesh and that God is described as love; holy love which put the needs of others ahead of His own. To walk as agents of Christ’s love in our world, three things must occur.

First, observe the hurting people around us. Suffering humanity exists everywhere and to be Christ among them, we must see them as He did. Without compassionate observance, meaning taking our eyes off ourselves, there will be no compassionate involvement.

Next, to walk as Christ walked in the world means entering into the messiness of hurting people in the church and outside. Friends, life is not tidy. Jesus didn’t come for tidy people who have it all together. Don’t expect to be used by the Lord if we want life and service for the Lord clean, neat, and convenient. And if we are truly experiencing the control of Christ’s love, we will be getting our hands dirty in seeking the hurting, ministering to the messy, and serving the least of these around us. That is what the walk of love will do.

Finally, for people to see Christ in our walks, we must actually be walking with Him. This is not about a bunch of Christian “do’s” and “don’ts”. It is about the Spirit-controlled, Word-saturated, and prayer-driven life of obedience to the Lord. We can only walk as the Lord walked if we are actually walking with the Lord. Our service for the King comes out of our intimacy with the King.

Well? How’s our walk with the Lord? What are people observing from us? A healthy gait or a noticeable spiritual limp?

PRAYER: “Lord, may the people who observe my life always see a representation of You.”

QUOTE: “The walk of a Christian is not only a walk with Christ but a walk as Christ.”