In the months leading up to leaving for Israel, I was supposed to be walking. Not an unreasonable amount. About 1-3 miles per day. It was important to walk prior to the trip. It was an important part of the preparation.
I’ll admit. I did not walk near what I should have. I was lazy.
Jesus walked everywhere. He walked from the Judean wilderness to Nazareth (about 115 km). He walked from Nazareth to the Galilee (about 40 km). He walked from Magdala to Capernaum (about 10 km). He walked from the Galilee down to Jerusalem (about 121 km). He walked everywhere.
Jesus must have had some incredibly strong leg muscles from all the walking. I on the other hand do not. While thankfully the walking didn’t hinder me in Israel, I had missed an important part of the preparation.
We rode the bus for all of our long distances, so I didn’t spend a lot time in Israel contemplating the long journey it would be to get from place to place walking – that is until we took a short walk through the Valley of the Doves.
We made our way to the Valley of the Doves, with Mount Arbel on our left. We walked along a trail marked as the “Gospel Trail” We were walking along the same trail Jesus would have traveled to get to Galilee from Nazareth. How amazing that this same dirt trail that Jesus walked along thousands of years ago still remains and I’m standing on it here today. WOW. [….] it became very real.
October 23, 2019
Jesus walked along this trail with Mount Arbel on his right and Mount Nitai on his left as he traveled to the Galilee. The path reminded me of hikes I’ve taken with my family in South Dakota or Colorado. With hills and mountains on either side, walking on the bare earth into the valley. Trees and green grasses. Markers guiding the way.
We walked along part of the path that Jesus would have walked. We were walking with Jesus.
I wonder how Jesus felt as he walked that path. Especially after being rejected in Nazareth and heading towards the Galilee.
Did Jesus spend most of his time in prayer? Did he praise the Lord in song? Was he envisioning his mission here on earth?
Did Jesus spend time enjoying nature like we do? Did he stand still when he saw a beautiful sunset just so he could capture it in his mind?
Did Jesus have blisters on his feet from all the walking? Did he ache? Did he hurt? At the end of a long day did he simply want to sit down and rest?
Did the walking ever wear Jesus down? Did he ever stop walking because it was too difficult and he was too tired? Did he try and find shortcuts?
Our lives are our walk with Jesus. Each and everyday we wake up to continue walking with him.
Do you spend time on your walk in prayer? Do you spend time praising the Lord in song? Do you envision what God can do through you here on earth?
Do you spend time enjoying God’s creation and giving thanks? Do you stand still to hear God’s voice and take in intimate moments with him?
Do you have pain caused by the world from your choice to walk with Jesus? Do you tire? Do you take the time to find rest in God?
Do you ever run away from God’s call because it is too difficult or you feel unequipped? Do you try to find a way out?
Our lives are our walk with Jesus.
And in a world full of pain, suffering, negativity, violence, injustice, hate, discrimination, and fear, it is not easy. We are pulled in so many directions, overbooked, overstressed, and we struggle to prioritize.
Walking with Jesus is life changing. And the more time we spend walking with him and drawing closer to him through prayer, worship, service, giving and study, the more we can share his light and love with others.
One area I am committing to do better in my walk with Jesus is prayer. We prayed so often on our trip in Israel, and I felt so connected to God. It wasn’t something I had intentionally made time for in my every day walk with Jesus. So starting today, I am working on praying 5 times a day.
Following Adam’s example in his new book The Walk, I am praying when I wake up, during breakfast, lunch and dinner and when I go to bed. It’s only day one, and I already don’t have a good track record, but I tried and I partially succeeded. And all that really matters is that I had more conversations with God today than I did yesterday. I spent more time walking with Him than I did last Wednesday.
Where are you in your walk? What is one step you can take to spend more time walking with Jesus?
God, life is not easy. We want to walk with You, to love You, serve You, worship You, pray to You and share You with others. But God, sometimes we let the world get to us. We become distracted. We feel that we’re not prepared enough to walk with You just yet. We feel that we need to perfect our prayers or read more scripture or have a better Sunday attendance before we can truly walk with You. God we know that all You want is to walk with us, be with us, and have conversations with us. Help us to find one way throughout this next week to spend more time walking with You. Pull us closer, draw us nearer, that we may experience the joys of walking with You. Amen.
Abbey Jo
Adventures with Abbey Jo 
Leave a comment