In 2007, the American Heart Association established the first Wednesday of April as National Walking Day. Somewhere between 10 to 18 months, we started our journey walking. However, the older we get, the less we want to walk and must be encouraged to get in those steps every day.
Mayo Clinic offers many reasons why walking is beneficial for our health. It helps:
- Maintain a healthy weight and lose body fat
- Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes
- Improve cardiovascular fitness
- Strengthen your bones and muscles
- Improve muscle endurance
- Increase energy levels
- Improve your mood, cognition, memory and sleep
- Improve your balance and coordination
- Strengthen immune system
- Reduce stress and tension1
It’s not the leisurely stroll, though, that gets us the most benefits. How you walk is very important. We are supposed to turn our normal walk into a “fitness stride.” This
“requires good posture and purposeful movements. Ideally, here’s how you’ll look when you’re walking:
- Your head is up. You’re looking forward, not at the ground.
- Your neck, shoulders and back are relaxed, not stiffly upright.
- You’re swinging your arms freely with a slight bend in your elbows. A little pumping with your arms is OK.
- Your stomach muscles are slightly tightened and your back is straight, not arched forward or backward.
- You’re walking smoothly, rolling your foot from heel to toe.”2
Then, we must develop the right routine which involves the right walking gear, the course, warming up to walk, the walk, cooling down after the walk, and stretching. Evidently, to do it right, it’s more than just one foot in front of the other.
The same is true in our walk with the Lord. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1, “Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.” Paul has a lot to say about our walk with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for 
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.
It’s not just one foot in front of the other with the Lord, either. There is a right way to walk and the Christian needs to get in step with God’s walking program. May it never be able to be said of us what Paul said to the church of Thessalonica.
“For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” (2 Thessalonians 3:11)
1https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/walking/art-20046261
2Ibid.
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