Psalm 119:105 Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path

When was the last time that you went for a walk? Ever since you took your first steps, you’ve been walking, some more than others. Some like to walk for their health. Others walk because of their job. Some walk just for the pure enjoyment of being outside in God’s creation. Regardless of the reason you walk or the reason you don’t walk, health experts tell us that we need to do more walking to stay healthy. Walking provides great benefits to our health if we do it consistently. It helps us keep the weight off, strengthens the heart, and helps control blood pressure to name a few. You may know all of that, you may have that knowledge in your head, but that doesn’t mean you will walk any more than you have been. A lot of folks say, “I know I should get some exercise, I should go for a walk,” but then simply sit down again in front of the TV or staring at their phones. Exercise is an individual decision and it is not enough to just want to go for a walk. You actually have to do it. You are free to walk or to sit still, but the decision you make will affect your health.

I think you know I am talking about more than physical fitness. I have some advice from God’s Word on spiritual fitness and it involves walking in the Word of God. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” God invites you be in his Word every day, assuring you that he is with you to guide and lead you. What a great opportunity our Heavenly Father gives to us by giving us His Word. We don’t have to wonder what he is thinking or wonder about his nature or desires for our lives and this world. We can hear our Father’s heart directly from him in the gift of Scripture.

Health experts say that walking 30 minutes can make a huge difference in your health. What would happen to your spiritual life, to the life of the church, if those who loved the Lord would spend 30 minutes a day walking in the Scripture? As followers of Jesus, we need to have that daily time with Him in His Word, taking advantage of the opportunities we are given to study His Word in Bible Studies, small groups, through personal devotions or whatever works for you.

A friend who had knee replacement surgery was told me that the thing she wasn’t prepared for afterwards was how weak her entire body would be. After being confined to a bed, her muscles weakened from not being used. Without walking on a regular basis, it is amazing to see how legs that once worked well can now only hang there helplessly. With therapy and determination, the muscles can be strengthened and useful again.

In many Christians lives, they have been sitting too long without being active in the reading of the Word of God. They have become stuck in their spiritual growth.  And because they are stuck in their spiritual growth, that spills over to other aspects of their lives. In fact, some have wandered from the faith. They fail to apply the teaching of God’s Word in their lives and as a result they have become spiritually unhealthy. As the church, one of our tasks is to build up the Body of Christ to true spiritual health so that we might be better equipped to reach those outside the church.

Walking daily in the Word of God can empower you to serve your fellow human beings with the love of Jesus. That Word calls us to remember who we are and to show us the error of our ways. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) You and I need to know the truth so that we walk in the right direction. While most of us don’t like to be corrected, correction is beneficial. Think of it like going to a doctor for a checkup. He may listen to your heart and say, “I do not like what I am hearing.” If your doctor said that to you, would you want to know what the problem was? Or would you rather not know and remain ignorant of the problem inside of you?

God’s Word is what we need to walk in the right direction in our lives – Sharper than a two edged sword! Perhaps some are not in the Word because they do not want to hear what the Word has to say to them. The Word penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow. That is an amazing statement.  The Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart of man—your heart and mine.  It cuts through the baloney of life and lays it out on the table.  Here it is. That is how the Word of God in the law does its work. It exposes the disease of sin, so that the healing can begin with the Gospel. Without that exposure, the sin can fester, grow, and lead to death. But when brought to the Light of God’s News in Christ, the healing begins.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. His Word is the lamp and light every day because He knows the pathway that I am on, He sees the snares and things that would trip me up along the way, He sees the detours that would tempt me to turn aside. I need His Word in my life to keep me walking in the light and in the truth. Sometimes that truth convicts me because it points out the sin in my life, yet I need to hear it. That Word of truth calls me to repentance, reminds me of the truth of a Friday that we call Good on which Jesus died for my sin, and just as importantly reminds me the victory won on Easter was for me. I can walk in the truth that Jesus’ blood was shed for me so that life now and life forever with him is assured.

So how much or where do you walk? It depends on how healthy you want to be. Do you need to change the way you walk in God’s Word? Change is not always easy. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to change our poor habits of walking in God’s Word for good ones. When a child is learning to walk, there are many times he or she falls down and then gets up again. But there is a determination to get it right! Maybe you have fallen down in the study of the Word. Now is a great time to get up again. The more you practice, the better you will become by the strength that God provides.  Part of learning, however, is falling down and getting up again.  Do not be satisfied with where you are!

I believe that as the Children of God called to be His very own through baptism that we truly have a desire to hear from our Father. Our struggle, like many things in our life, is that we have the best intentions and plans until it actually comes down to how to begin that walk. Start with small steps. It would be great if everyone would spend 30 minutes in God’s Word every day this week. It would be awesome to spend 210 minutes this week with God. I am sure it sounds good to you, too. But I also know it might be a little overwhelming, so let’s start with some small steps by saying 5 of the 7 days this week you are going to spend 5 minutes with God in His Word. 5 minutes for 5 days this week. Give it a try.