A Day-by-day devotional

April 30, 2023

The ‘Jesus walk’

Chronological One Year Bible Reading Plan: 2 Samuel 5-9

Scripture of the Day: Psalm 91

One of my favorite prayers, whose authorship is attributed to St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, begins with: “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me…”. Then, it goes on to declare Christ’s presence in every part of one’s life, actions, movements and dealings. It is not actually written in a way where you speak directly to Jesus, but that you declare His being ever-present wherever you go.

Whenever I think of the term ‘walk with God’, I cannot help but consider that the word walk, as a substantive, derives from the verb which entails movement. It means then, that wherever my feet lead me, if I live a life which I consider as my walk with God, each step I take should have God in it. However, as a follower, I am the one supposed to follow. I let Jesus lead the way, since He is the way, and I follow where He leads me.

Jesus would not lead me to places which would compromise my faith and spiritual convictions. To illustrate, if I am visiting Amsterdam, and I let Jesus lead my walk with Him, I might end up at the Anne Frank museum, which enables me to reflect about what evil and terrors hatred could lead into. If I ended up entering a museum or brothel at the red light district, however, it is highly probable that it was I who led my walk with Jesus. But even then, He remains by my side. He walks alongside me, to ensure that even if I opened up myself to the possibility of sin, He is still there to remind me. He is still there to tap my shoulder and say, “Not that way. But this way. Follow me.” It is then up to me whether I turn over the navigation system of our walk to Him again, or I keep it so I can be the boss of me.

God would never lead us to where we could go astray. That is for sure. For this reason, in our walk with Him, we should allow Him to lead the way. Then, we follow. When He moves, we move. When He takes a step, we take a step. When He pauses, we pause. When He turns right, we turn right. We don’t turn left. If we turn left, He is no longer Lord (i.e. master of the navigation system) over us since we took the lordship from him and bestowed it upon our selves. We then become lord over our lives. When that happens, just imagine all the cliffs and sharp turns our walk could have.

The Lord’s protection is always upon us. However, once we turn another way, there will definitely be more dangers, because we lead, not God.

Reflection: How many times have you used the term ‘walk with God’ to mean your life? In this walk, do you follow, or do you lead? Remember, the one who goes ahead is lord. Is our Lord the lord in your walk? Or are you?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please always lead the way in my life. Hold my hand and never let me go. I know there are plenty of times that I shake off your hand so that I can go my own way. Forgive me, Lord. Send me back on track, whatever it takes. Thank you for your faithful love and tender mercy. Amen.