How’s Your Spiritual Walk Doing?

I don’t know about you, but the idea of moving to a new home is the epitome of stress. The Employee Relocation Council has estimated that 60% of Americans rate moving as the #1 stressor in their life; more stressful than divorce, having a baby, or starting a new job. Studies have also shown that the idea of moving is a main cause for spouses or children to stay put in abusive relationships.

So why does moving hit us so hard? And, what does moving have to do with this week’s study?

As most of us know, moving is not just about changing addresses. It involves social circles, memories, sense of identity, letting go of cherished items, friendships developed by our children, and daily routines. Moving typically involves a fear of the unknown due to change.

Even slaves have trouble leaving their homes as exemplified in the story of Israel’s struggle to leave Egypt. Consequently, I believe there is no better place to explore the concept of “moving” than through the Hebrew word, “Bo.”

In my opinion, moving is not limited to changing address stressors. It can also involve a leading of Yah’s hand in your life. It can mean a change of direction for you as well as others.

In true character form, the Hebrew meaning for “Bo” does not let us down. Please consider some of the multifaceted pictures of this word, followed by asking a question, “How is Bo manifesting in your life?”

Bo is many times referenced as “go” or “halak” In this context, it means to walk. (strongs h1980.) It is first used in Biblical phrases such as, “Then Enoch walked with God.” Gen. 5:24 and “God walking in the garden.” Gen. 3:22.

When YHWH said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh,” in Ex. 10:1, “go” can mean: to enter or come in, to attain, to bring in, bring against or upon. (H935)

The word “go” as given in the phrase “Let my people go” in Ex.10:4, is translated as “Salah” (h7971), and is defined as; to stretch out, to send away or let loose & depart.

For my own interest and personal growth, I took some of these definitions to make a translation of what Yahweh might have been saying to Moses:

“Hello Moses, I want you to “enter” the courts of Pharoah so I can “bring against” him my judgment. “I will walk with you” as you say to Pharoah, let my people “depart so they may stretch out.”

From here, I applied these same concepts to myself. (No, I am not Moses. But I seek YHWH.)

“Hello Rollyn, I want you to “enter” my kingdom, so I can “bring in” my Spirit in your life and the lives around you. I will “walk” with you during this time. I want you to “stretch out” and grow, knowing that your life of bondage has been “sent away.”

Is it any wonder that when Israel was sent out of Egypt, Yahweh directed them towards the ordinance of Passover? I’m thinking He did so to remind them of their need to trust and to start walking a different kind of path. The directions were clear, “Eat of The Lamb, then move forward with your shoes and walking stick for I will be with you.”

Are we willing to do the same?

Notice in Exodus 12, that Yahweh asks individual households to bring in The Lamb or the “solution for the unknown” into their homes? So often, we want to worry about everything else but ourselves. Yet Yahweh asks Israel to address their personal lives first, before they move.

With these concepts setting a foundation for thought, how might you approach other questions in our study this week, when reading, I Corinthians 11, Luke 22, or John 19.