By Cindy Koch –

Have you followed the footsteps of Jesus? Sometimes I think I can be kind enough, sometimes I think I can love like he did. Every once in a while I have a really great day when the sky looks a little bluer and I’m pretty proud of myself for my gentle tongue and thoughtful actions. But then there is the day when I lose it, I am angry at just about everything. How can I possibly get any better? Is this Jesus stuff not really working for me? Sometimes I think I need to take a good hard look at my walk.

There are many tools and resources to help us to asses our Christian walk these days. If things don’t look like they are going in the right direction in your life, there must be a problem somewhere. Most likely, it is a problem with discipline or even faith. Because it is generally accepted that the Christian walk looks great when you’re doing it right. There is contentment and joy. Now we’re not being unrealistic, of course, it’s hard. The Christian life is not easy. But if you not seeing the basic good things, health, psychological ease, answered prayers, well then you must clean up your path a bit. So we search for the holes in our walk. Prayer life? Going to church? Serving our neighbor? There must be something to fix here.

But recently, I had the privilege to teach through the book of Romans with my gals in Bible study. And we learned some very shocking things about our walk. Every time we looked a little closer at ourselves, you know finding that little hole to fill up, St. Paul tore it wide open. Every time we cautiously dipped a toe into the forbidden depths of our sin, just to tidy up that little area in our life, the Word of God swelled up a terrifying wave trying to drown our last gasping breath. The more we considered our walk, the more I realized, in His infinite wisdom, God was out to drown us.

I would find myself comparing my walk to other people. And surely, I wasn’t that bad. They were the wicked ones who didn’t have a leg to stand on. But then the Word washed over me, “You have no excuse, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” (Rom 2:1) There was no escape, but I ran all the more. I would find myself looking to the law, measuring my walk, aligning my steps so that God would see I was worthy. I would follow His commands, I would pine after His righteousness. But then the Word flushed out my folly. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Rom 3:10-11) And through the law came knowledge of my sin. God didn’t value my walk, as steadfastly as I tried to stand before Him.

My walk, my ways, my plan for discipleship. Dead. My pride, my boasting, my strength. Dead. My solutions, my resolutions, my intentions. Dead. And nothing I could do for my walk with God would improve my relationship with Him. The reality of our personal impact on the situation was horrifying. Dead.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Rom 6:4-5)

And here is where our death is the comfort in our walk. Buried with Christ, we are dead to sin. Buried with Christ we are dead to the law. Buried with Christ, we already walk His walk. Thanks be to God for the cleansing flood that took our walk out of our hands. Praise the Lord that we have died, never to walk on our own again. All Glory to our risen Savior that he freely gave his finished and fulfilled walk to us.