He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. {Psalm 23:3}
Walking with the Lord is the greatest thing we can ever do in this life. Our path is sure. Our future is set. We have eternal life that waits for us. And there is nothing in this life we even need to worry about, because as the Bible tells us,
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. {Romans 8:28}
The only condition is that we have to walk in the path that the Lord desires us to take. We have to make sure we are following in His footsteps, desiring everything He has for us, being guided by Him. Everything will be good for us, everything will be well, as long as we love Him and are keeping in step with Him. Otherwise, it’s going to be rough for us. Oh, it’s not going to be easy all the time, but remember what Jesus said that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He also said that we will find rest upon our souls in Him, as long as we abide in Him and we learn who He is. So even if we have trials and tribulations and persecutions, we will find His rest and we will find His comfort. He has assured us that because He has overcome the world we will overcome also. {John 16:33} All will be well for us as long as our hope and our trust is in Him. The only time it gets really hard is when we take our eyes off Him and focus on our situations in this world and on ourselves. We have to keep walking right beside Him, seeing Him, and talking to Him all the time – keeping in stride with Him. Otherwise the world will get to us. Our flesh and our carnal desires will trip us up. We will find walking with God hard.
It’s kind of like the prodigal son the Lord talked about in his parable. The son thought that doing his own thing would be so much better for him than living under his father’s roof and doing his father’s bidding. So he goes off with his inheritance far away from his father’s house. He wastes his life away in pleasure and in sin. To him this was the life, and this was the easy way to live. But a time came when all his inheritance had been spent away, and he finds himself wanting food and shelter. There was also famine in the land and there was no work to be found. Eventually he finds himself working feeding pigs. He was so hungry he ends up eating their slops. Finally he came to his senses and decided he is going to go back to his father, who was a generous man and he will beg for a job in his household. Surely, his father will not turn him away. He has learned the errors of his ways and realized he has been very foolish. He repents. Working for his father will be better than working for a strange man feeding pigs with nothing to eat. In his father’s house there was plenty to eat. We know the rest of this story. Not only did he find mercy in his father’s eyes and was welcomed back, but his father was so happy to see him he made a feast for him and invited everyone to rejoice with him and enjoy his son’s return.
Likewise with us, we are tempted often to try our own path, our own will and our own ideas. We’d rather serve the world and serve others than God. But sooner or later we will come to realize that there is nothing out there in the world for us. There is only emptiness and the pleasure of sin that brings death. There is really nothing out there. There is actually a spiritual famine in the world and nothing else but God can satisfy. Sure it might feel sometimes it’s not an easy thing to walk with God and keep pace with Him, but it’s even harder to walk and live this life without Him. When there are problems and there are sorrows without Jesus, there is no one out there to work things out for us and no one out there to comfort us. It’s a sad life in the world without Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. Who wants a sad life? So we go back to Him. We go back to reading His word and spending time in prayer and in communion with Him. We go back and seek after His will and His desires, because we know there is no other way to live but to do His will. We seek after Him and we listen for His voice to guide us, because through Him we can live. Through Jesus Christ our path is sure. Through Jesus, we are shown the way to go. We know where we’re heading even when we don’t understand everything that is ahead of us, and finally, we know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is true and faithful until the end. He will supply all our needs. He will comfort us and take care of us. So we follow Him, we walk with Him, and we stay right beside Him. We walk the path He’s paved for us, because we know there is no other way for us. There is no other way to live but to follow in the path that Jesus is walking in.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. {John 15:16}
Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. {Psalm 5:8}
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? {Psalm 27:1}
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. {Psalm 23:4}
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. {Philippians 1:21}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I love You so much Lord because You are so gracious and so kind to my soul. I love You because You promised to never ever leave me nor forsake me. I thank You that whatever problems or sorrows I go through in this life, You will be there for me to comfort and guide me and to lead in the path of righteousness. Help me Father to stay in tune with You always. Help me to follow You all the way and to surrender my heart and my desires to You always. I pray Your faith and Your love in my heart to keep me until the end. I pray in Your most wonderful and powerful name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
