“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.”
“Walk”
The word “walk” means to walk around and carries the idea of course of life. It is the manner of life of a consistent walk. We are long on talk and short on walk. What we are speaks so loud that people cannot hear what we say.
Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Romans 13:13, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”
Ephesians 5:8, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
Colossians 1:10, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Principle:
Our walk with God is the capital for our talk.
Application:
Our walk with God is our capital and operating assets for sharing the gospel. Our testimony is like money in the bank. We dare not write checks if we have no money in the bank. We dare not talk for God if we do not have a walk for God. Before people accept our talk, they need to see our walk.
Non-Christians will discount everything we say about Christ if we live an inconsistent life. They will more likely believe our message if our lives back up what we say. Otherwise, they will put a question mark behind everything we convey.
We discount everything some people say because they exaggerate so much. They are guilty of gross overstatement. We put up with mild amusement with what they say; we do not take them seriously. Non-Christians will discount Christians who do not back up their talk with their walk.
Our walk must match our talk. Life must equal our lips. Christians go to extremes. We are either all walk and no talk or all talk and no walk.