January 19, 2024
The number one exercise for heart disease and diabetes is walking. Jesus' preferred mode of transportation was, you guessed it, walking. It's easy on the joints. It's a step-by-step process, and a little bit daily, really adds up over time.
It's what my doctor prescribed when my weight tipped the scales in the wrong direction last check-up. Hey, prediabetes, I see you. 😬
It's what I envision when taking this sobriety journey, one step at a time. I don't know what it is about walking in the early morning when the light is just barely coming through the tops of the trees and all you can hear is nature waking up. I come from a line of sidewalk teaching and prayer walk praying. I like to walk it out. This life, my life has been rich with putting one step in front of the other.
I go for a walk nearly every day. In the summer, it's when I check my garden, morning and night, walking through the rows, checking the growth and pulling the weeds. I like most walking among my garden rows. It's when I do my best work. Walking in the spirit is a lot like walking through and pulling weeds.
It's hard work. It means that I am purposefully going about my day and everything that I do and every place that I go, has a purpose in Christ. Who I see. Who I meet. It's not the easiest task when you're naturally introverted.
I don't always get it right. I have days where I don't like people and days where I'd rather not "but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) As a Christian, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." (1 John 2:6)
Just. As. He. Walked.
For me, it means greeting my neighbor and my enemy with the same love light. It means serving my fellow man no matter if they return the favor. It means forgiving and moving on, because walking is an action verb. We're not meant to stand still, hung up on something someone did to us months ago. Forgive and get going. "And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling sacrifice." (Ephesians 5:2)
It takes consistency and daily dedication. If I go a few days without doing the work, the weeds choke the new growth out. My tomatoes don't produce fruit and my eggplant forgets what it is. Some of the weeds start imitating the other plants because they got to survive somehow. It's a lot like pretending everything's fine when it's not. It's a whole lot easier to fall into old rhythms and tearing others and yourself down if you're not staying consistent in your private devotion time. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." (Jude 1:24)
Pruned and watered plants stand tall, ever looking up, stretching themselves to the sun, producing fruit and more seed for the next harvest and the next and the one after that and so on. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that life is short. We are here for a moment and then it's someone else's turn. I think kindness, being consistent in pruning, setting boundaries, and living out God's love in our personal and public lives, goes a long way into creating something beautiful for the next generation.
Let's walk it out, friends. ❤️