There is a way you can live in which you don’t just live – you walk. And this is God’s intent for all of us who are in Christ. It’s to live in such a way that’s so different – so distinctive – that you can’t even describe it as “living” any more. The Hebrew word for walk used in Genesis 5 indicates much more than just a journey. It means, “Human locomotion without any indication of destination.” The picture in Hebrew is of a person who is moving forward, one step at a time, but is consumed with the journey itself.

If you’ve been around the church very long, you’ve heard the Christian terminology of having a “personal relationship with Jesus.” This is how we describe our interaction with Jesus, and in that phrase we find some really great truths. We find that we have more than a casual acquaintanceship with Jesus; that’s it’s a relationship. And like any relationship, it can be deep or shallow. It needs to be nurtured. We also find that the relationship is personal. We don’t enter into to it because of our association with a group or because we have a membership card. We come into because something has happened to us individually, as persons. But here’s the interesting thing: When the Bible describes how we interact with Jesus, we don’t find the term anywhere in its pages. The Bible never talks about a “personal relationship with Christ.” Sure, the ideas are there, but the terminology is absent. Instead, when the Bible talks about what we have with Jesus, we find a single word: Walk.

Isn’t it interesting that this is the word the Bible uses? Take a look at Micah 6:8:

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Or consider the book of Ephesians, where Paul uses the word 6 times to describe how a Christ-follower is supposed to live with Jesus: “Walk worthy. Walk in love. Walk in good works.”

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