"WALK???"

Acts 3:1-6             (ESV)
"1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.
3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us."
5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
6 But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and WALK!"



The recollection of Peter and John speaking to the lame man at the gate of the temple is one that has been taught to me since I was a child.  But only recently has one word become so  prevalent in my study.  Peter and John could have used any number of words when delivering the message of healing to the lame man, but they used a word that I believe was Divinely set aside to be spoken at this precise moment, rise up and "WALK"!

Verse two tells us the lame man had been unable to "WALK" since he was born.  It is not like he had previously walked and just had to remember how.  Upon receiving the command from Peter, he had to "WALK" with no instruction or therapy!  Peter and John told the man "Look at us."  He looked at them and then Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and WALK!"  GOD allowed this man to do something he had never done before!

The man was not instructed to jump up and start running.  He was instructed to "WALK"!  According to one version of the King James Bible, the word "WALK" is used 202 times.  The word "run" is used 65 times.  The Bible records in verse 8 the man began "walking and leaping and praising GOD"!  Even though the man was instructed to "WALK", he couldn't help leaping and praising GOD also when he went into the temple with Peter and John.  Peter and John didn't instruct him to "leap and praise GOD"!  He couldn't help himself!

The enemy can, and does, insert so many seemingly important, maybe even good things, into our lives that we don't have time to "WALK" in the path that GOD has laid out for us.  If we are so busy that we don't have time to develop a relationship with our CREATOR, who has caused that busyness?  Mark 8:36 says "For what does it PROFIT a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"

In Genesis 3:8 scripture records "And they heard the sound of the LORD God WALKing in the garden.....".  Regardless of how busy we allow our lives to become, GOD does not get in a hurry, nor is HE moved by our time constraints.  When we adjust our schedules to meet HIS schedule we may not be successful in the worlds eye, but we will have time to "WALK" and leap and praise HIM"!  I