It is said of Enoch that he walked with God for 300 years (see Genesis 5:22). God was so pleased with him that he took him straight to heaven, skipping death. Walking with God seems to be very important. To do it for 300 years speaks of commitment and dedication.

Health experts have been urging us for years as Canadians to get out and walk. It keeps our hearts and lungs healthy, enables our muscles and limbs to stay strong, and even fights depression and melancholy. For many people it’s also a social event because they talk and catch up with friends as they cover the miles.

To walk with God is not an exercise event. It’s a way of life during which a person pays attention to God every day, speaks with Him in prayer, consults with Him through His word, and develops a strong relationship with the Almighty. Like Enoch did over time, we learn more and more about God and come to love Him for all His goodness. Genesis 6:9 tells us “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” He was unlike the sin-filled people of his day. Walking with God made him into a great spiritually minded man.

The disciples of Jesus walked with Him all over Palestine. They covered the territory all around the Sea of Galilee, down the Jordan valley, throughout Judea and Jerusalem, Samaria, and even up through Tyre in Phoenicia. They must have been healthy, rigorous people, but I’m sure they tired of traveling so much, especially on foot. But Jesus talked as they walked every day, discussed all kinds of things together, shared meals, and dealt with the multitudes. And often the 12 were mesmerized by his miracles of healing, mastery over nature, and authority over the demons. Their walk with the Master changed their lives.

Physical exercise will keep our bodies healthy. Walking with God is more of a spiritual experience, strengthening our lives – body, soul and spirit. Paul told Timothy, “…for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Go and walk with God. Take someone with you.

– Tim Johnson

I’m talking about Apollos. Unfortunately, he’s only mentioned in just seven passages of the New Testament. Paul never wrote an inspired book to him like he did for Timothy and Titus. And Apollos was not given the role of writing any of the New Testament books, although some believe the book of Hebrews may have been his. But the small window of information we do have about him is enough to find great encouragement.

The lengthiest piece about him is found in Acts 18:24-28, which tells us he was a Jew born in Alexandria, Egypt. The city was renown for its scholars, schools, and its great library, and it would seem natural that eloquent Apollos would come from there. He bursts into New Testament history when he visited Ephesus and began teaching in its synagogue. He fervently believed in Jesus Christ, having been instructed by followers of John the Baptist and his temporary baptism of repentance. In the synagogue audience were Priscilla and Aquila who confronted him with a more accurate knowledge of the way of God. Acts 18 implies he accepted their thoughts and made any necessary changes.

With encouragement from the young Ephesian church, Apollos went to Corinth and helped the new congregation there, and “he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (18:28). The man’s zeal and persuasive ability impressed not only the church in Corinth, but also the Jews of the city. In fact, Paul reveals in 1 Cor.1:12 and 3:5-6 that some members of the church were idolizing him, and division was beginning to happen in Corinth. No doubt Apollos was as upset about this as Paul. It seems that Apollos later returned to Ephesus where Paul encouraged him to consider going back to Corinth with some other traveling Christians, but he declined (1 Cor.16:12). He probably didn’t want to stir up any more division. The last we read of Apollos is in Titus 3:13 where Paul urged Titus in Crete to help him on his way to another location to preach.

Good preachers are in demand, but how precarious their position can be. Apollos was educated and articulate, but he had the humility to accept correction about the truth. He was impressive but would not ride the wave of popularity. Above all he was zealous for the Lord and modeled his life after Him. What a great example for all of us from just a few verses in the New Testament.

– Tim Johnson

Freedom is the vaunted prize of all western countries. Politicians croon over it. Songs are written about it. Universities debate it. Millions have lost their lives to secure it. We all need to be thankful for it. There’s an obvious price paid for freedom, for history shows it had to be wrenched from the controlling few.

The New Testament book of Galatians is all about freedom. The word is used twice by the apostle Paul in it’s five chapters, and liberty once. Like political freedom, religious freedom also came with a price – the sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This kind of freedom could not be achieved by man alone. God’s Son came to earth to give it to us with the ultimate sacrifice.

The apostle said, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (5:1). He urged us to “stand firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” We are not only free from sin – its practice and consequences – but also from the law. Law in Galatians is the dependence on human works to achieve our own salvation. We need freedom from it because we can never reach its requirements. This is why the Law of Moses, as great as it was, could never save the Jews (2:16). Jesus set us free by grace. We certainly do works, but we do them out of gratefulness to God and concern for others. Paul explained it this way, “faith working through love” (5:6).

The world gets freedom mixed up. It thinks we should be free from any self-control or moral value. We make a big mistake when we think freedom is “all about me.” That leads to enslavement to sin and disaster. Paul warns, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (5:13). Freedom always demands self-control and respect. That keeps us from “immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strive, jealousy…” (v19-21). Rather, mature freedom fosters “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (5:22-24).

What Jesus gave us is worth preserving and protecting. We let no man take it from us, nor will we fool with it and destroy it. Freedom demands our sacrifice and obedience to God.

– Tim Johnson

David Johnson wrote two back-to-back articles a few years ago and I want to run them again over the next two weeks. I learned a lot from them, and I hope you will too. – Tim

The world is often interested in bad people; that’s why gossip magazines sell. It’s sad if you consider yourself to be ugly, for there are likely beautiful and interesting things about you. But we do not especially thrill when we hear the word “good.” In fact, we often relax and stifle a yawn. We are interested in the clever, the rich, the courageous, even the bad. But not especially good people.

Probably the best and worst advertisement for Christianity is Christians. The New Testament speaks of a man who was a great advertisement. In speaking of Barnabas, it says, “For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” (Acts 11:24)

If people say we are good looking and cultured we are delighted, but who is complimented by being called good? It is important to remember that in spite of the misconception, the word AGATHOS – translated good – is not a weak word.

The word is strong and brawny. It has the shoulders of Samson and the lifting power of Hercules. It means profitable, generous, upright, beneficent, and virtuous. God used it to describe Barnabas because it was the best word. He was generous, a man of faith, he thought of others, and was a truly spiritual person.

Ugliness can’t be helped unless it’s character problem. To be bad might make you interesting, but you’ll harm others and yourself. But goodness makes you beautiful and banishes badness. It is one of the purest flowers that can bloom in our soul.

Seek it out and learn its ways. Barnabas did and people have appreciated him for 2,000 years.

– David Johnson, with revisions from Tim Johnson