I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. Hosea 11:3
Children, when they are young, have to be taught how to walk. Parents will often hold their hands and arms up to help them keep their balance until they can learn to hold their own balance on their feet. Over a lot of practice, the child will learn to walk. After growing up most children will not remember their parents actually holding them to teach them to walk.
Hosea records God saying that He had taught Ephraim how to walk by holding them by their arms, yet they did not know that it was Him who healed them.
Walking is something that has to be taught and learned. One does not automatically walk on one’s own self learning. Nor does it occur immediately. It takes a lot of practice, along with some falls, tumbles and wobbliness. Everything a person is able to do has to be taught and learned.
One thing every person needs to learn is how to walk the path God has for each individual. Instead of beginning walking God’s path, people crawl in the depths of sin and corruption.
The moment a person begins to follow Christ, one must learn how to walk. By His Holy Spirit God holds a person’s spirit up and teaches one how to walk. He opens one’s eyes to seeing what His word teaches and what God expects of the new believer. The journey begins on the path towards heaven and being more like Jesus each and every day.
Believers are taught how to walk away from sin and walk towards God and in the righteousness and holiness of Jesus. From the first step, it is a lifetime of learning and growing in walking with God.
When you were young your parents taught you how to walk physically. As a believer, God is working on teaching you how to walk a spiritual walk. Be willing to lift your arms up to Him and allow Him to hold you up as you learn to walk with Him. God will remove the bondages of sin that kept you crawling in the dust and lift you up to a greater and more abundant life. Your walk will be different than that of the world and will last for eternity.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know God is holding you up; that you will be open to God’s teaching you to walk; that you will walk in the way God desires of you; and that God will strengthen you to keep from walking back to sin.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
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