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Do You Want To Go For A Walk? | Making A Difference Daily

Do You Want To Go For A Walk?

Today’s Passage – Genesis 4 – 6

“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)

I am writing this thought on Saturday evening: New Years Day actually. I just took a walk with my daughter, Hannah; her friend, Lexi; and our dog, Casie. Casie is a little bit portly: well, actually she is downright fat. She needs to lose weight: so we took her for a walk. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with the girls and Casie. We talked, and laughed, and just enjoyed some quality time together. It was a time when my attention was focused on them, and their attention was on each other and me. I guess this is why God enjoys when His children walk with Him.

In our text we read about a man that is not mentioned all that much in the Bible: maybe a half dozen times; but we know that he walked with God; and we also know that God took him to Heaven long before his time to die. He has the distinction of being only one of two people in the Bible from the past that was “raptured” up to Heaven. Do you know who the other man was? I’ll let you research it if you do not know. Anyway, God took Enoch a few years prior to the flood of Noah’s day, and he is a picture of the believer today who will be taken to Heaven (raptured) prior to the Great Tribulation that will take place here on the earth in the near future.

My thought for this post, however, is not Enoch’s departure from the earth, but rather his walk with God. It is interesting that the phrase “walked with God” is only used twice in the Bible: here, and also once referring to Noah. I hope that some day, it can be recorded about me that I walked with God. My only resolution for this New Year is to get closer to God: to spend more time with Him. Recently, I have begun walking early in the morning so that I can spend some undistracted time with the Lord. I pray that it remains a regular part of my routine throughout the year. Don’t misunderstand, I also want to see some changes and improvements in my life this year, but I am completely convinced that the way to see real change occur is through a relationship with the Lord that daily grows more intimate. I like what Paul said in Philippians 3:10:

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

By the way, I know that I have been writing and speaking a lot lately about this theme. I can’t help it. It is in my head. I feel like the guy who just came back from vacation and can’t talk about anything else. I am excited about what God is going to do this year, and the best part about it is that I am not going to do the work; He is. All I am going to do is try to walk as close to Him as I possibly can; and just maybe, on one of our walks He will take me home to Heaven as well.

How about you? When was the last time that you took a nice long walk with the Lord? Have you been neglecting your time spent with Him? Why not determine that the one thing that you accomplish this year is strengthening your relationship with Him.

Phil Erickson

Pastor Phil Erickson has been the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church since January of 2002. Having grown up in Ocean County, Pastor Phil has always had a burden for the south Jersey area. After graduating from Bible College in Longview, Texas, he and his family moved to Galloway Township with the vision of digging in and serving the Lord and the people of Atlantic County. Pastor Phil and Cindy Erickson have been married since 1985. They have four children and ten grandchildren. Their oldest son, Phil Jr. and his wife Katelyn are serving the Lord in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ. Their oldest daughter, Melissa, is married to Wesley Clayton who is in the Air Force and is currently stationed in New Mexico. Samantha, their third child, is married to Justin Mears and they are both serving the Lord at the church in Galloway. Hannah, the youngest, is married to Lucas McCollum, and they are also serving here in Galloway. In preparation for ministry, the Lord led him through a variety of educational experiences that have equipped him to serve the Lord and His people. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgian Court University, a Bachelor of Biblical Studies in Pastoral Theology from Texas Independent Baptist Seminary (formerly Texas Baptist College), a Master of Religious Education in Bible from West Coast Baptist College, and a Master of Biblical Studies from The Crown College. More recently, he completed a Graduate Certificate in Biblical Counseling and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Veritas Baptist College. He is thankful for these opportunities to study God’s Word more deeply, and counts it a privilege to use whatever knowledge the Lord has given him for the building up of His church. In addition to pastoring, the Lord has given Phil the wonderful privilege of teaching as an adjunct professor at Vision Baptist College in Berlin, NJ and Veritas Baptist College.

View Comments

  • Great post! as I was reading the passage this morning, that verse jumped out at me (Gen 5:24) and reminded me that my quiet time was not over yet until I took time to communicate with God. Looking forward to this New Year.

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