Scriptural Surgery: Walking As Jesus Walked
Some people argue that you are the company you keep; if you are with the wealthy there is a higher chance that you will also be wealthy, beautiful to beautiful, and crazy to crazy. If this is true then your decision on company would depend on what you actually desire for your life, most people like the concept of opportunity. Therefore, why not spend your time with someone that has limitless potential?
1 John 2:6
‘The one who says he abides in Him, ought himself to walk in the same manner that He walked’
So what does it mean by walking/abiding in Christ?
There are five different words in the Greek and Hebrew language that describes the word ‘abide’. They may look a bit strange in spelling and pronunciation but their meanings are profound. The first of these words, epimeno, is the strengthened form of another verb, meno, which means “intensive.” The word epimeno sometimes indicates perseverance in continuing to do something. Life presents us with many challenges it could be emotional or physical, perseverance is a significant bout to greatness.
Furthermore, the word, katameno, is a verb that means “constant residence” or “frequent resort.” Another word, parameno, means “to continue” and is sometimes used to express confidence in abiding with a person. One really neat word is hupomeno which means “to remain in a place instead of leaving it; to stay behind or persevere.” Finally, the word prosmeno is used in several different situations to indicate a persistent loyalty or a continuance in doing something.’
To abide in Christ, we must remain in Him. He is His word (John 1:1), so we should remain in His word, as part of abiding in Him. His word reveals His mind to us, and who He really is.
According to the above scripture, abiding requires walking like Christ, i.e. Christlikeness in our walk.
Walking as Christ walked:
Through scripture, we can see what Christ’s walk was like. Here are some Characteristics that we can try to adopt (with God’s help), in our walk with God.
- He was loving (matt27:32-56)
- He fasted (Matt 4:2 )
- He prayed (Mark 1:35 )
- He started His day early (Mark 1:35 )
- He knew God from His youth (Luke 2:41-52 )
- He was kingdom minded (John 4:34)
- He was merciful (John 8:1-11 )
- He was forgiving (John 8:1-11 )
- He had a deep respect for the House Of God (Matt 21:12-13 )
- He went about looking for people to heal and bless (Luke 8:43-48 )
There are obviously many more scriptures on how Christ walked. The most important thing however, is to remember that we can aspire to holiness as He is Holy, but only through and in Him. We can’t do it by our finite mortal power. If we try it without Him, walking like Him, may feel like a form of modern bondage, nothing more than a religious act, lacking power and void of Him. He died for our freedom. Let’s live it and allow Him to be who He is i.e. God.
Written by Makeba Hudson