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Even though God had promised Abraham he would make a nation out of his descendants, the nation of Israel was still on probation. God became so angry with the nation of Israel, he was tempted to exterminate them and create a new nation from Moses.

If one considers 'walking' as how one conducts one’s life, we can see that God desired that Israel would adapt themselves to the law that they had agreed to follow when the covenant was established and the ten commandments received. Israel would be negligent if they failed to do this. However, they would be rebellious if they adopted an entirely different 'walk'.

Unfortunately Israel refused to follow the 'walk' they had agreed to and it was only after the nation had been taken captive to Babylon for 70 years that they finally gave up the practice (walk) of idolatry.

Here we see a differentiation between walking in the ways of the Lord and obeying his laws. This seems to be lost on the later Pharisees as they made a religion of rule following that ironically carried them away from faithfulness to God.

What may not be fully appreciated is that obedience and law keeping are like the tip of the iceberg. They are an effect of something deeper. The Pharisees mistakenly considered rule following to be the entirety of what God desired.

Jesus instructed the Pharisees that they were mistaken to focus on just the superficial. He pointed to deeper truths that were essential to please God.

Hosea speaks in the context of the failures of Ephraim and Judah (the divided nation of Israel) and the frustration of God with their rebellion. If one looks only at external actions, one can miss the inclination of the heart from which actions arise. For example, the actions of the Pharisees appeared to be righteous.

Perhaps the most iconic of the laws that was given to the nation of Israel was circumcision. It becomes almost emblematic for identification with the law. It was key to how the Galatians were being turned away from walking by the Spirit to walking by the flesh. However, the more important issue of faith is used to show its centrality over even the observance of a key element of law.

Here we have the core of our 'walk', faith. The conduct of our lives is only an echo or reflection of that in which we trust. If we trust in our flesh, our actions will show a pursuit of pride, lust, or other selfish inclination. If we trust in God, our actions should reflect the degree of that trust (strength of that faith). Too many Christians follow the example of the Pharisees and attempt to do 'good' using the power of their own strength (the flesh). As Christians we cannot 'do good' but only allow God to work good through us. This is facilitated by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Our walk should not reflect our accomplishments, but our trusting in God to work in and through us. When we trust in the flesh, we do not have the ability to see any alternatives. We distance ourselves from God and quench his Spirit. As we draw nearer to our Savior, we begin to see with clarity, the path he would have us walk.

For example, the person who follows Christ may abstain from alcohol, not so much because it is 'evil' or can cause much pain for others, but more because the light of Jesus illuminates a path where the sensations alcohol can produce hold no attraction.

Too often we allow the inclination of the flesh to direct our walk. We sort of operate on automatic pilot. We are not to sleep walk though life but 'seek the Lord while he may be found'.

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