And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. - Leviticus 26:12

God calls his people to commune with him in holy intimacy. Do you remember how Adam and Eve would have enjoyed regular walks with God in the Garden of Eden before their sin? Other righteous people like Enoch, Noah, and Abraham were said to walk with God as well. “Walking” in this sense is more than just traveling on foot. It’s a figure of speech to refer to a disciplined manner of life.

After God brought his people out of slavery in Egypt, he gave them his law to guide them in paths of righteousness. Their redeeming, covenant King desired his people to experience the blessing of walking in covenant relationship with him. Israel’s history was a mixture of the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. Each of them, like sheep, turned to his or her own way.

The same is true of us. Though we know the blessing of close communion with God, we fail to love him with our whole hearts. But Jesus initiated a new and better covenant in which God himself takes on the curse of our rebellion in the person of Christ so that we might know the blessing of walking with him. Though not perfectly, we can walk in true communion with God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit because of the perfect redeeming work of Jesus. May this Christmas season remind you of the remarkable joy of walking in obedience to God out of gratitude.

Song: Joy to the World