(By Elder Edwin Chan)
Walking as an exercise started trending within the last decade. With the popularity of fitness trackers, earning monetary rewards and the sheer health benefits as compared to sedentary lifestyle, walking has indeed gained lots of fans.
In a recent news article, it was reported that walking groups appeared to be especially popular with seniors in Singapore. There was a LongwalkSG group that walked from west to east – 108,002 steps, 18 hours, 78.96km – what a remarkable achievement!
Most people, however, just track their daily steps. Reviewing the trend of my daily steps, it is obvious that Covid-19 had caused a sharp drop in step count in year 2020 due to movement restrictions implemented. Recently, I have begun to “step it up” again with occasional walks between office and home.
Walking is used as an analogy in the bible to describe one’s relationship with God. We would be familiar with verses about Enoch and Noah walking with God. Whether they physically walked with God is not the point of discussion here, rather their life exemplifies a journey with God that exudes continuous fellowship, unity and love. Even in the beginning, in the garden of Eden, LORD God ‘moves’ about in the orchard, and if not for sin that caused Adam and Eve to be afraid of God, I can imagine that they would have dialogue with God as they inspect the orchard, as well as deep discussion on the creation as they go about their tasks.
As we think about our own spiritual journey with God, here are some ideas:
- Consider a walk as a workout time with God – set time apart to dialogue with God
- Consider your life’s journey as a walk with Jesus – whether it is a long and windy path, whether it is on troubled waters, have faith and remember that you are not alone, because Jesus said “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life”
- Consider a walk as a race – just as apostle Paul who lived his life on a mission, as if on borrowed time, to preach the gospel, to win the incorruptible crown.
No matter what, step it up! It beats being sedentary.