1 Thessalonians 4:1, “Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”
The older I get, I realize how much farther I still need to go in my relationship and walk with the Lord. It is a continually ongoing process called Sanctification. It involves our hearts, minds, and desires being brought more into greater conformity with God’s. Paul stated that he was thankful for the Thessalonian’s Christian maturity but looked for them to “do so more and more.”
Paul used a Jewish metaphor – “to walk.” 2 Corinthians 5:7, says “we walk by faith and not by sight.” Ephesians 5:15 warns us “to be careful how we walk.” “Walk” and “walking” were used to describe making progress towards a destination. The rabbis had verbal and written down behavior in the Halakah that guided them in their behavior. Paul, being a former rabbi, was calling the believers to “walk” not according to the oral traditions of Judaism but in a way that is fully pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here are three other examples from Scripture where the word “walk” has been used:
Deuteronomy 10:12, “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, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Psalm 1:1a, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked.
Romans 6:4, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Colossians 1:10, “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
We can either do things that please or do not please God every day. We know our final destination and that there is more to life than merely the here and now. But do I fully remember that when I am rubbed the wrong way in various conflicts? Do my reactions that become actions fully please God or not? Chuck Swindoll said in his book, “Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back,” “Those threatening storms are designed to slow us down, to make us climb up into His arms, to force us to depend on Him. Maybe it’s time to say, “Lord, I love You. Thank You. Through your strength, I will not be moved. I will stop running, stop striving, I will not fear. I will hold on to You. I will count on You to build that tent around me and protect me from the blast. Thank You for giving me, in love, this blizzard of stress. Thank You that I can’t even see the distance or the goal. I admit my weakness. I need Your strength.”
Listen to Walk With Me, Lord, by Lynda Randle. 10/30/2015.