Aerosmith recorded a song with this title a long time ago. Run DMC re-did it, more recently but still a while ago, with the help of its original band. For (most of) the Sundays from now through the end of September, our message series will be Walk This Way. For our purposes, we won’t use the lyrical content of the song, but Biblical teaching that shows us how to “walk” as we answer this question:
What does the Christian life look like?
We enter the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus. It is a gift of His grace alone. How we live isn’t what makes us loved by God or acceptable to Him. That’s a key understanding of our faith. How we “walk” doesn’t save us. Jesus walked the road to the cross – and we are saved through His sacrifice for us.
But, for all of us who are believers in Jesus, how then shall we live? What are we to do?
The Word of God provides plenty of direction for how our lives should look. We should “walk in His ways” to quote Deuteronomy 30:16. That means following the instructions it gives. We strive to be pure and holy and the Spirit of God helps us in that endeavor. We walk by faith, trusting in God through all the decisions that we make. We conform our lives and priorities according to God’s will for us rather than our own wants and desires and the ways of the world. We are to be content with what we have and generous with the blessings we have been given. In short, our lives should look different from how most people live. We should look like Jesus.
In addition to how we live, we recognize that there is plenty to be done. Our work in the kingdom is primarily for the good of others. There are many people who are living without the grace and truth of Jesus. You and I know some of them. They are our neighbors, fellow students, coworkers, and friends. God celebrates when the lost are found. We should work to bring people to Jesus. A major focus of Mount Olive is to Connect people to Jesus. We do that by building relationships with our neighbors and moving from relationship to discipleship. As we share the love of Jesus through our words and actions, as we share our motivation for being good neighbors, as we share what we know and believe about the Lord, people will come to Him. But we need to be consistent, kind, loving, and generous with our time and resources to gain the opportunity to speak.
God has told us how to walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of our opportunities while giving thanks to God (see Ephesians 5:15-21).
Let’s Walk this Way.
Walking with you,
Pastor John