What do people think when they hear about you?

“We’ve heard so much about you!”

No doubt you’ve heard someone say that when you’re meeting them for the first time.

And, at that moment, you’re probably wondering…

What exactly have you heard about me?

Is it good…bad?

What do people think when they hear about you?

It’s the kind of question that reminds us that all of our words and actions are basically on trial every day.

Our reputation is at stake…

But even more than that, God’s reputation is at stake if you call yourself a Christian.

Are you who you say you are?

When people hear about you, do they think more about what you’ve done with your life or what God has done in your life?

Have they heard that God is with you?

God wants to show Himself to people, and one way He does that is through the people who already know Him.

So, what have people heard about you?

Do your words and actions make people think that God is with you?

The truth is God wants to show Himself to the world through you.

He wants you to be known as a person who walks with Him, so that when people live life with you, they can learn how to walk with Him too.

Imagine what God could do through you if people heard that God is with you.

Perhaps they’d say something like what the prophet Zechariah recorded in chapter 8 of his book…

“Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”  (Zechariah 8:23b)

 

 

If taking the easy road isn’t your thing…walk like this

“Look carefully then how you walk…” the Bible says.  (Ephesians 5:15-17)

Which begs the question…

Where are you learning to walk?  Where are you learning to live?

Because, the culture that we live in loves to tell us how it thinks we should walk.  It loves to tell us how to live.

Walk this way, the culture says.

If it feels good, do it.

If it’s legal, smoke it.

Same sex.

Premarital sex.

Abortion.

Divorce…

…it’s all good as long as you’re being true to yourself!

Just ask Bruce Jenner…

We live in a culture today that says what’s true for you may not be true for me.

What is truth, anyway?

Truth is whatever you think it is.

Is that how you want to walk?  Is that how you want to live?

If that’s how you want to walk, then welcome to the crowd.

Welcome to the wide path.

Welcome to the dead end.

Welcome to an empty, meaningless life.

If that’s not how you want to walk, then consider this…

Even though we live in a culture that can’t handle truth, truth exists…truth is real.

And, we find that truth in God’s Word.  His Word is truth.

Think of God’s Word as a manual on learning to walk. 

And, any good manual isn’t just full of instructions.  It’s full of illustrations…pictures or examples of how to do what it’s telling you to do.

If taking the easy road isn’t your thing.

If you want to live life to the full…

Then consider walking like these people…and follow their example.

Walk like Daniel, who “made up his mind” not to walk like the culture around him by choosing not to eat and drink what the king put in front of him just to fit in with the crowd.  (Daniel 1:8)

Walk like Joseph, who could have hooked up with an older woman that wanted to sleep with him, but chose to run away from her instead.  (Genesis 39:10-12)

Walk like Esther, who could have kept her mouth shut, but chose to speak out against injustice and risked her life in the process.  (Esther 4:15-16)

Walk the narrow road.

¹³ “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ¹⁴ But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

(Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14)

What does your walk say about you?

Have you ever watched people walk?

Like at the park, or the mall, or even just down the street?

You can learn a lot about a person by the way they walk.

Some walk fast…some slow.

Some walk with their head up…some with their head down.

Some walk with purpose…some walk with no purpose.

Some walk with the weight of the world on their shoulders…some walk without a care in the world.

Some strut and bounce when they walk…some just shuffle their feet.

Some look straight ahead when they walk…some look all around.

Some walk in a straight line…some walk in circles.

(I think you get the idea…)

The Bible often uses the word “walk” to describe how we live every day.

Where we go.

What we do.

What we say.

Who we walk with…

All of these things are a reflection of who we are…how we walk.

How we live.

So, what does your walk say about you?

What do people think when they see your life?

Do they see Jesus in you…or do they see something else?

“…the Lord has told you what is good,
    and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
    and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8 (NLT)