When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.

~Genesis 3:8 NLT

Finally, I had reached the age of twelve, and Dad kept his promise. Taking a walk hung on my horizon.

Dad loved to hunt and eat squirrels and wanted me to also. I heard the hinges squeak on my bedroom door when Dad poked his head in to wake me. But he didn’t have to call my name. I had been awake for hours.

The air hung heavy with humidity yet still emitted a fall crisp. My grandmother had always said squirrels were no good until after the first frost fell. It killed the wolves, as she called them. It took thirty minutes to drive to the river. Stately oaks stood like a general watching over his troops. Moss covered their branches like a quilt on a cold winter night. But I couldn’t see any of this when we arrived. Daylight was at least an hour away.

We walked slowly through the woods. Dew decorated the limbs of the small scrub bushes, giving me a brief shower every time Dad let one flap my way. I followed Dad’s flashlight beam as it scattered across the forest floor and pranced through the treetops. He searched for just the right place. After all, it was my first time, and he wanted me to succeed. Finally, he found the right place. “Sit here and wait,” he told me, and then he walked off to find his tree.

The Genesis verse implies that God had a habit of walking with Adam and Eve, perhaps daily. He created humanity for fellowship, so this would only be natural. Then sin entered. Satan tempted the couple, and they gave in to the one thing God had told them not to do. Sin broke their intimate fellowship. God’s punishment? He removed them from the garden and placed angels at its entrance to prevent their return. But He also killed an animal and placed skins over their newly-discovered nakedness.

God wants the same type of relationship with everyone that He had with Adam and Eve. Like Adam and Eve, we often mess up God taking a walk with us. We’ve sinned and not confessed. Gotten too busy with other things—good things. Focused too much on relationships with others. I could go on. We probably all could.

The good news is that none of that in the past or present can hinder our walk with God unless we choose to let it. God is in the restoration business—as He proved with the first couple. No matter what we’ve done or are presently doing, He can cover it so the walks can continue. All we have to do is give it to Him.

If something is messing up your walk with God, ask Him to remove it.

Father, I want to walk with You daily. Please take away anything that prevents me from doing so.

 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2024: Taking a Walk: Martin Wiles: All Rights Reserved