One of the best ways to get to know someone is to go hiking together. I mean, really, what better way to bond than trekking through the Oregon wilderness together? When you go for a hike, you aren’t just taking a quick stroll. You’re on an adventure! You’re crossing brooks, stepping over fallen logs, snapping pictures of stunning sights, gaining elevation.

That last one is important. My wife Whitney recently took our boys for a “hike” with some other moms and kids, but the boys later told me, “That was a walk, not a hike.” The event had been dubbed a “nature hike,” but there was no elevation gained. I must agree with my boys.

The best hikes always have as their final reward a grand vista where you can look out and see the wonders of nature—a lush valley, a snowy mountain range, or the Pacific Ocean glimmering in the sunlight. Throughout the journey, there is time to get to know your fellow travelers and discuss subjects that can’t be explored in brief, ordinary conversations. All the while, you are experiencing the beauty of creation together; shared experiences are nearly always exponentially better than solo experiences (that’s why watching a movie is far better with a friend, despite the fact that all you are doing is sitting and staring at a screen).

The Bible often uses the metaphor of someone “walking with God.” From the very beginning, it is implied that God often walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). We are told that the antediluvian_^[1] Enoch—a guy who avoided death through his own private rapture into Heaven— “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24). “Noah walked with God” (6:9). God called Abraham to “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). On numerous occasions, God even tells all the people of Israel, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people” (Leviticus 26:12). The idea of walking with someone implies intimacy. It’s not me running ahead of God or me fighting to keep up with God, but me walking with God.

And if you’re walking with God, you’re not running away from Him (like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned), but seeking to be with Him continually. Rather than trying to push thoughts of Him away from your mind, you’re seeking to “practice the presence of God”^[2] by regularly reminding yourself that all of life is meant to be lived before His face.

“If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7, ESV)

The blood of Jesus cleanses us and through trusting in that blood, we begin a new journey of walking with Him by the light of His Word and filled with the energy of His Holy Spirit.

I am no Hebrew scholar, but from what I gather, there isn’t exactly a word for “hike,” in contrast to “walk” in ancient Hebrew. One word would basically be used for both. So, while the word “hike” is not in the Bible, when I think about “walking with God,” I like to think about this in terms of hiking. Maybe it’s my personal bias; I love hiking. But a hike suggests a journey, one that will be marked by both challenges and delights. I also like how hiking gives us a picture of an upward goal we are progressing toward. Paul says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

A long and arduous journey shared by companions with a common goal serves as the backdrop for many literary classics, including Lord of the Rings and Pilgrim’s Progress. Our walk with God is a lifelong journey, one in which we don’t always know what is ahead, but we are comforted by the fact that our Guide knows about every step along the way. In fact, He’s marked out the trail for us.

Like a challenging hike, our walk with God won’t always be easy. There will be moments of testing, new difficulties to overcome, and times when exhaustion will set in and the temptation to turn back will be very strong. From a distance, it may look like we are wandering in the proverbial forest, lost and confused. Others may question our motives and criticize the path we’ve chosen, maybe even claiming they have found a more “practical” or wider trail with fewer bumps along the way. But if we faithfully follow our Guide and stay on the trail, He will lead us to new vistas of His glory and His grace that we never dreamed possible when we first began the journey.

Our walk with God is not a brief stroll, but it is a shared experience. To use an old-fashioned (but good) word, life is meant to be lived in communion with God: He continually shows us more of His heart even as we open more of ours to Him. When we do wander off the trail, we quickly get tangled in those painful blackberry bushes of sin that tend to leave a mark, reminding us how foolish it was to try to carve a new path on our own. Thankfully, He’s always willing to wash us off when we come back to the Way. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV).

To walk with God is to daily surrender yourself to Him, letting Him teach you how life is meant to be lived. Jesus said that if you want to save your life, you first need to lose it so that it can be truly found in Him (Matthew 16:25). We were made for Him, so life will always be hollow until it is filled by His life. Whereas before God’s purity, goodness, holiness, and love were abstract ideas, as we walk with God, we begin to experience more of God Himself.

The psalmist cries out, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Psalm 34:8). It’s one thing to believe your friend who tells you of a new dish that is to-die-for delicious, but it’s something else entirely to actually taste it for yourself. Similarly, while sound doctrinal statements about God are vital and give us a necessary map for our journey, they can never replace the intimacy of actually knowing God and experiencing the warmth of His love flooding your soul.

As we are drawn into the life of God, we sometimes pause in our walk and think about how far we’ve come together. We briefly wonder, Where would I be if it weren’t for God? But only briefly. Because our eyes are on the goal ahead. We are traveling together with a destination in mind.

This alone is what can satisfy our hearts—tasting the Lord’s goodness and seeing His glory.

The church father Augustine had this to say:

“So what should we do in sharing the love of God, whose full enjoyment constitutes the happy life? It is God from whom all those who love Him derive both their existence and their love; it is God who frees us from any fear that He can fail to satisfy anyone to whom He becomes known; it is God who wants Himself to be loved, not in order to gain any reward for Himself but to give to those who love Him an eternal reward—namely Himself.”

Have you begun your journey with God? Walk with Him and enjoy the endless fruit of delight in knowing His love for you.

I pray this encourages you. If you have any thoughts or questions about this, I would love to hear from you!

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[1] That’s an old school word for “pre-Flood” or “before the biblical Flood.”

[2] Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God.