It's not enough for us to have a destination in mind and a desire to get there, we must walk! We have to walk with purpose and with determination, but the devil isn't going to make it easy. He's going to discourage us by filling the wilderness with threats and dangers, or he'll create an oasis as delightful as possible to lure us in and keep us from moving ahead. It takes strength to resist the temptations and to keep walking. Sometimes, though, the wilder- ness is difficult because that's the nature of the wilderness. Life can be hard; it can be cruel even. In those times, when our sorrow tells us to push away, it takes faith to reach for the Father's hand and keep walking, trusting that God is always present and feels the pain of his children.

I took a random poll not too long ago and asked people what they thought was the greatest challenge to daily Christian living. The overwhelming answer was "time." Most of the responders said that the day goes by so quickly that before they know it, it's time for bed and they've not done anything to strengthen their relationship with God, grow their faith, or share Jesus Christ with some- one else. We have to decide to make our spiritual lives a priority.

The goal of this study is to help us become intentional in our daily spiritual walk. We make choices every day of our lives. We choose when to wake up, what to wear, what we eat, how we will respond to people, and what we will do for exercise. We also choose how we will live for Christ each day. We can choose how we will walk!