Approximately ten years ago I finally heard Jesus Christ calling out to me. I suspect He had been doing it for awhile but my own arrogance and pride prevented me from hearing His voice. When I finally heard Him, His voice was loud and clear.
Just days after my conversion I dropped to my knees and asked God a very specific question, “You’ve got me, now what do you want me to do?”
I asked the question without really expecting an answer, but the response I received is, to this day, the clearest expression of God’s voice I have ever heard. God responded to my question with a simple command – Walk.
You see, at the time of my conversion I was in pretty bad shape. At thirty years old I couldn’t walk very far without getting extremely fatigued. God’s command to me made sense in light of my condition. He clearly expressed to me that He couldn’t use me in this fallen world if I died prematurely; thus, he directed me to walk. I became vigilant about my task. For a solid year I walked diligently. I walked through snow, rain, hail, and extreme heat every morning for a year without fail. When I first started I couldn’t walk a block without my left leg going numb. When I arrive back at the house I was always dragging a stump of a foot along with me. Before long, however, I was walking greater distances and even jogging up a few hills. I began to use my walking time as my prayer time and looked forward to opening up to God about the things going on in my life. As a result, my health improved dramatically. I lost weight and began to look and feel much better.
However, my conviction to walk lasted only a year. I had a problem that I didn’t understand at the time. I had accepted Christ in my head in an intellectual way. There was no doubt that the claims made by Him and His apostles were accurate. However, I had failed to allow Christ to change my heart. My heart was still living in a fallen world in a fallen state. I was only half-cooked so to speak.
It took just a year before I forgot my walking was commanded by God. I grew tired of it and began to branch out. My new found fitness allowed me to begin a serious pursuit of cycling where I racked up hundreds of miles. I began weight-lifting and playing racquet ball; all endeavors worth pursuing. The problem was that I forgot where I started. When people asked me about the sudden change in my life I was far too ready to take the credit for myself. My response for my lifestyle change should have been that God had commanded me to walk and I had obeyed. He should have gotten the credit.
In the time since I have fallen off the health band wagon. I find myself needing to lose some weight. I’m a border-line diabetic. My cholesterol and triglyceride numbers could stand to be improved. I’m in bad enough shape that I don’t really enjoy those old hobbies. I’d like to someday … and that brings me right back to where I started.
Walking.
I feel like God’s chosen people who disobeyed His commands until they found themselves in exile as a result of their of own stupidity. They forgot where they came from. They forgot it was God Almighty who led them out of slavery. I forgot it was God Almighty who told me to walk.
When the people of Judah found themselves exiled in Babylon, they discovered that God immediately began making plans for their return to the promised lands. God remained faithful despite their disobedience. God has remained faithful to me despite my disobedience and my wasted opportunity to be His witness.
So today I walked. Sure, it was a short walk accompanied by two poorly trained dogs who kept trying to defecate in the middle of the street, but it was still a walk. The point is that today I obeyed a God who has remained faithful to me despite my flaws and disobedience.
How will you obey God today?
Title: The Pursuit of God
Writer Clark D. Goble started this blog as a means to chronicle his imperfect walk with a Perfect Savior and invites you to join in on the conversation. He also invites you to check out the links to his work. Most often, Clark writes about Jesus and theology. He also enjoys writing fiction in a variety of genres.
Todd French is an information technology professional and a resident of Columbus, Ohio; where he shares a humble abode with his darling wife and beautiful daughters. His interests run the gambit from reading voraciously all forms of fiction to rooting for the Cleveland Browns.