Keep Walking!

“I have discovered the secret,” Nelson Mandela writes in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, “...that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

A cynic might say, “Yeah, that’s life. One hill to climb after another.” But that attitude mistakes the path we travel for the nature of the journey. The path has many hills, but we make the journey by God’s appointment. That gives it meaning.

Hundreds of books, thousands of pages, and endless hours of sermons have attempted to explain the “secret” to Christian living. The answer is not a secret at all. Paul writes in Colossians 2:6, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”

Why walk? Because life is a long trek over many years. Jesus does not ask us to run the whole way. We are to keep on walking — continuing on exactly as we started, “established in faith, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). This means placing our life in the hands of the Lord, growing in Him.

Why walk? Because walking implies relationship. We do not walk alone, but with Christ at our side. We are intended to make the journey with Him in fellowship, sharing the path with Him.

Yes, you’ll have another hill to climb. There will always be another hill ahead. But Christ Jesus, the Lord, is on the path with you, and the journey leads to His eternal home. Keep walking!

Lord, I want to walk faithfully today. Be my help, my guide, my companion on the journey. Give me the faith you know the path I am on. Amen.

Go Deeper — Think about walking together with a friend down a path or road, chatting, being in step with each other, sharing the experience. That’s the way it is to walk with Christ.