“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways…” Deuteronomy 10.12

It’s easy to take that verb, “walk”, for granted. The New Testament uses this word to describe our covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Gal. 5.16ff); we must pay careful attention to our “walk” (Eph. 5.15); and so forth.

Walking is a very normal human activity, one engaged to get us from one place to the next. In the days of ancient Israel, and even in the New Testament, walking was the normal means of conveyance. To walk, in a Biblical frame of reference, entailed direction, exertion, continuity, progress, and, very often, companionship.

As we think about practicing the Law of God in our lives, these are very useful ideas, all summed up in the word, “walk.” We should make plans for our lives, both long-term and day-by-day. Those plans should be shape and guided by the Law of God. We will exercise our strength each day toward the realization of our plans. All our strength – whether in our words or deeds – should be directed toward fulfilling our plans and doing so according to the guidelines of God’s Law. We persist in our plans and daily efforts so that continuity and progress become evident. The progress we seek is the progress in realizing the promises of God which His Law makes possible.

And if we engage with others in our plans and activities, then let all such engagements and relationships be governed by the good and perfect Law of God.

It’s not just in the moment-by-moment “doing” that God calls His people to obey Him, but in all our “walking” as well – our planning and all our activities toward realizing those plans throughout our lives, for all the days of our lives (Ps. 90.12, 16, 17).

T. M. Moore

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