Most mornings I walk my dog. Rain or shine, hot or cold, no matter the weather, I walk my dog for at least 10 minutes, but usually for 30. And 99% of the time, when I take those 30-minute walks, I walk along the same route and have been doing so for 4 or 5 years now. I sometimes think my familiarity with the route is so tuned in that I could walk it blindfolded if I chose. During those walks, my senses are filled with all the sights, sounds, and smells of the journey. I see kids walking to school, these days, staggering their steps trying to avoid the ice patches or mud. I see the holiday decorations as they change with the seasons from ghouls dressed in black, to pumpkins and hay, to Santa and nativity, and soon pastel bunnies and eggs. I see the slow resurrection of grass trying to become green again. I smell the garbage trucks driving by me on Tuesdays and, on really cold days, I smell the campfire smells coming from the neighbor's chimney puffing out smoke from his wood burning furnace. I hear all sorts of birds chirping and cars driving by. I am no longer startled by the dogs who seem to awaken in their own homes trying to either escape their home or protect their castles by hopping up on living room couches, barking as loudly as they can and pawing at the windows when they see my dog freely walking by them.

Almost every day, I also have one earbud firmly planted in one of my ears while listening to a podcast and the other ear exposed to the world around me. More often than I would like to admit, I am not thinking about God's view of my walk or how He instructs me to walk.

In the New Testament, most of the time, the word walk is used interchangeably with the idea of how we live out the lives we have been given. For instance:

--Ephesians 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
--Colossians 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
--2nd Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight
--Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
--Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
--Colossians 1:10 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
--1st John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked

Walking is something almost all of us do everyday. The next time you walk today, think about one of these verses with each step you take.

Maybe this is your cue to get up and take a walk!!

PS... When your walk, your life, doesn't seem to have the guidance and direction you once had or think you need, remember Jesus' words to his disciples in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”