Our Trustful Walk

“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Colossians 2:6 (NKJV)

None of us remembers  how or when we  first learned to walk. That is a faraway occurrence for us adults, although our parents kept alive  vivid memories of that day.  Babies crawl before they walk; some crawl for months  and then suddenly one day  begin to take steps, unsteady  at first, but after a while, they get a firm grip on how to navigate terra firma.  After that, it seems nothing can stop their progress.

In the apostle Paul’s gospel, “walk” has a wider meaning than mere physical activity. It refers to a way of life. It is an apt metaphor that applies to our life in Christ. Unlike taking our first baby steps,  we may remember precisely  when we started our “walk” with the Lord.  It may have been unsteady and uncertain at first. Perhaps we were timid about stepping out for all to see. As a new believer, we didn’t trust ourselves, fearing falls or being less skilled  than others who, to us,  seemed to be  walking  fearlessly  and strong. We were in our childhood walk.  Says the apostle Paul,  “When I was a child,  I spoke as a child,  I understood as a child, I thought as a child,  but when I became a man,  I put away childish things”  ( I Corinthians 13:11).  For Paul,  maturity took over,  and  the childish behavior was left behind. That is the way it is meant to be in the Christian walk. Maturity in Christ emerges  with time.

In our spiritual  maturity,  we  shed the insecurities of our early life  in Christ  and  show mastery over pettiness, insincerity, and uncertainty in our beliefs.   Our walk is steady and joyful  because  now it is not merely a checklist of what to do next, not an endeavor to conform to certain behaviors,  but  a confident lifestyle,  walking in Christ Jesus and  having only  light control over our own movements. Whatever the situation—in the happy moments or in the bad times—we’ll  take  firm,  confident  steps because we’ll be walking in trusting dependence on Christ.

Always,

Judith

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~