I first decided to make this the topic of my study when I was in a lesson where they told the story of Enoch. Being a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I read it in the scope of being a missionary. Enoch was commanded to go and teach the people but he felt he had many shortfalls. He was weary about teaching and prayed to God. He was commanded to go and do and along with it was given a promise, this promise can be found in Moses 6:34, and this is my favorite part:
"Behold my aSpirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the bmountains shall flee before you, and the crivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore dwalk with me."
The promises given are amazing and it gave Enoch the strength to go and do! However the last part of the verse stuck out to me: "therefore walk with me." To receive this promise of strength, to get through the trials that Enoch was facing, he had to walk with God. How can we walk with God to receive the blessings needed to get through the trials that we face in our life?
Turning to the scriptures I looked up what it meant to walk with God in the Index. Right at the beginning it stated: See also: Act, Do, Live. I find that so significant! There's my answer! To walk with God we Act, Do, and Live! However I quickly realized that I didn't know what to Act, Do, or Live. With those three goals on my mind I dove into the scriptures.
Act. When I think of act I think of physical actions. How do I act in a way that results in physical actions that allow me to walk with God. Mosiah 6:6 describes how King Mosiah in the Book of Mormon walked with God.
"And it came to pass that king Mosiah did awalk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe his judgments and his statutes, and did keep his commandments in all things whatsoever he commanded him."
He walked in the ways of the Lord. He acted in the ways of the Lord. How did the Lord act? One of reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth was to leave us with a perfect example to follow. So to act with God we have to first become Christ like. In the book of 1 John chapter 2 verse 6 we read how we can become Christ like in our actions.
"He that saith he aabideth in him ought himself also so to bwalk, even as he walked."
If we want to become Christ like we need to walk, or act, even as he walked, or Christ walked. We need to first let him abide in us! Open our hearts and let him in! How do we open our hearts to let him in? He has laid out a path for every one of us and that is through faith, repentance (or change for the better), baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then enduring to the end! As we follow the path the farther we walk down, not only will we find ourselves changed, but our physical actions will start resembling as if we were walking with God. But what does enduring to the end entail? Exodus 18:20 states it very clearly:
"And thou shalt ateach them bordinances and claws, and shalt shew them the dway wherein they must ewalk, and the work that they must do."
Christ and Heavenly Father have taught us the ordinances and laws through Christ's ministry and modern day prophets. This verse shares that it teaches us the way we can walk, or act, and the work that they must do. The word do means more than just act. Do is more mentally and physical actions. It's not a passive word, it's an action word both mentally and physically to Do without thinking is to become. So how can we Do with God? Nephi shares the first step in 1 Nephi 16:5,
"And it came to pass that they did ahumble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness."
Humility! We need to not only act humble but to become humble! As we do this our reactions to situations, are split second thinking, will come in harmony with God and we will be able to walk with him in day to day life, not just when we decide to make a correct decision. In the beginning Adam walked with God. When he chose to partake of the fruit he lost that benefit of being that close to our Heavenly Father. We can't literally walk with God but through Jesus Christ and his atonement we can metaphorically walk with God. A story in the book of Alma outlines this concept so well! The people that are being written about have made a covenant to God to bury their weapons and to stop bloodshed. It goes on to say in verse 16:
"Now they did not suppose that asalvation came by the blaw of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a chope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come."
They did RETAIN a hope through faith. Did they choose to be faithful? Did in that moment they made a decision to in that one time be faithful? No! They retained their hope through faith! As we find these humbling experiences we need to retain what we learn and not just apply it to that one trial. As we do this we can build up walls against the adversary to ward of future attacks! Imagine if you were walking with God, do you think Satan would even dare come close? I think he would be pretty scared! We can walk with God as we retain the things that God teaches us through the trials in our lives. As we retain these lessons through trials, we start to live or become as if god was walking with us, we start to Live With God.
The question isn't how do we live with God, but rather how we live through God. In fact, by living through God we can live with him in the end! By Acting and Doing we can live with God. However this wasn't always possible. God demands a pretty high charge for us to return to him, he demands perfection. Are you perfect? I sure am not! So how can we meet this charge? The answer is Jesus Christ. In the book of Isaiah 2:5 it reads:
"O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us awalk in the blight of the Lord."
WALK in the light of the Lord. Without Jesus Christ we cannot even metaphorically walk with God! Jesus Christ is our savior. How do you feel about Christ? How should you feel about Christ? The Bible outlines it perfectly how we should feel in Isaiah 12:6:
"Cry out and shout, thou ainhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the bmidst of thee."
Cry out and Shout! Do you feel that same joy? I know that there is a special joy that can be felt through our Heavenly Fathers love, but that can only be felt through Jesus Christ. Walking with God is not a dull walk down a highway, it's a walk down a beach with a rising sunset or a walk through a wooded area right as fall has changed the leaves to hundreds of different colors. Walking, Acting, Doing, and Living through God is a walk of rejoicing. Humility+Rejoicing=Walking with God. Strive to Walk with God in all you do and as you do you will feel the Joy that is promised to us as we do.
