By Larry Stover | Stover lives in Valley Grande and is the pastor at Praise Park Ministries Church of the Nazarene

My wife, Janet, and I have always enjoyed going on a walk. Sometimes that was a quiet time for us and to enjoy the beach at sunset or sunrise.

There is something peaceful and tranquil about the sounds of the ocean breaking on the shore in a symphonic cadence resonating the sounds of the sea.

In our youth, we enjoyed hiking the trails of state and national parks.

We have spent hours trekking the trails of Mount Cheaha or finding our way to the top of Klingmans Dome in the Great Smokey Mountains.

There is something revitalizing about spending time enjoying God’s great creation.

Scripture also teaches us a lot about the joy of walking with God. That fellowship builds a firm relationship that makes us a stronger believer.

Along the way we learn about the power of obedience and our faith soars as we recognize the limitless reward of being faithful to the Lord.

The Old Testament is mesmerizing in its concept of walking with God.

In Genesis 3:8 we find Adam and Eve walking with God in the cool of the evening. Can you imagine the sheer joy of spending every evening walking with God in the Garden of

Eden? That would be the ultimate fellowship!

Genesis 5:24 tells the story of Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. He walked close to God all of this life. One day, he went for a walk with God and never came back home.

Imagine living in such a close relationship with the Lord that while walking with him one day, He just decided to take you home to heaven because you had been living for Him all your life, during a time when sin and wickedness prevailed all over the earth.

The world had become so full of evil that God regretted having ever created man.

He looked over His creation with a desire to start all over. It is then we meet Noah who was a righteous man, blameless among his people, and he was known to walk with God.

It is in “walking” with God that we discover what being a believer is all about.

When God made His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, the Lord set the standard by telling him, “Walk with Me and live a blameless life.” There was no law yet, no Ten Commandments; just a relationship centered on the need to “walk” with God.

The New Testament continues this pattern of relationship. 1 John 1:7 reminds us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Enjoying a daily relationship with Jesus Christ is all about “walking in light.” It’s God illuminating our lives through

many channels enabling us to become the believer He wants us to be.

The more we walk in that illuminating Light, the more we learn the benefits of walking with Him. Along the way we understand His principles and values; we learn what “truth” is all about from a spiritual perspective; and, we apply the knowledge and wisdom from that daily relationship enabling us to reflect the nature of Jesus Christ in every way. The longer we walk, the more we develop an insatiable desire to know more about Him.

Walking with God can be the most fascinating and rewarding decision you and I will ever make spiritually.

Imagine walking in His “light.” Everything you would ever need to know or understand is available to the earnest seeker of God’s plan and purpose for their life. Walking in the illumination of His Holy Spirit will make your life

“Simply Beautiful.”