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Deeptalking Shallowalker

( 3-12-05 )

Deut.10:12-13

^{DT 10:12} And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

          As I review the stories of Israel’s journey and  the recapping of the covenant relationship established between God and the Israelites I see something – absolutes. God called for all Israel to walk before Him in holiness and single minded devotion to Him.

          For the Israelites to walk before God in honor of all the laws and decrease and statutes that He gave them to live by would mean for them to live differently than the heathen nations around them. It was important for them as a people to live in such a way as to demonstrate by mode of life, their walk and talk, that they where God’s people. How they talked, how they dressed, how they ate, how they worked, what they valued and what they despised was all visible evidence of their being a covenanted people.

          In time their lives became corrupted and the evidence of being a separated people vanished and yet they were still God’s people. All through the ages since that time nations seem to have a problem with these people. They end up being a cursed people rather than a blessed one, at least in man’s eyes.

          All this makes me wonder about our Christian walk before our God. Jesus is the prophet like unto Moses that Israel was told to wait for, listen to, and obey. When Jesus came to the Israelites and was rejected by them He was then free to go to the heathen nations and offer them salvation. We, these many centuries later are the product of that offer.

          What we must be careful of is falling into the same troubles that history shows us our predecessors fell into as God’s people. Several names come to mind for this kind of problem: Deeptalking Shallowalkers, or maybe Wingless Highflyers or … You get the picture. The danger is to lose what is most important and keep what is least valuable.

          What are the marks of being a covenanted people to Jesus?  The world might say – ‘well, they dress up and go to church on Sunday morning. The more devote even go on Wednesday nights.’ What are the marks of our Christianity? Is it our dress code or our choice of foods or our language? Is there any distinguishing characteristics that proclaim – “Yes, I am one of Jesus’!”

          I am glad that my walk before Jesus is not a set of rituals; if that was true I would be in deep trouble. But there are rituals that belong to our journey like prayer before every meal. (I stress the every – even in a public place) Religious Ritual or rather rituals because of our religion have a place in our life if our religion has real depth. (Dan.6:1-5, 10-11)

          Daniel was a man of deep conviction and it showed in private and public. His life serves as an example of someone who is walking the talk. For you and I we may never be called to effect the destiny of kings and counties but we are called to demonstrably walk in this as Christians. We are called to be Deeptalking Waterwalkers.

          Paul speaks of this as walking by faith which includes obedience to God. (Rom.1:5,8,17; Eph.4:1-6; Col.1:9-14; 1Thes.2:10-12)