Enoch walked with God

"And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Genesis 5:24

We don't know much about the man Enoch - he is mentioned in a few verses in Genesis, from which we learn that his father was Jared. Enoch had a son, Methuselah, in the sixty-fifth year of his life. He lived three hundred more years, after his son's birth, during which time he "walked with God" and had other sons and daughters.

I wonder if he walked with God before Methuselah was born? Or did the birth of his firstborn bring him into a closer relationship with his Maker? Did he perhaps look at his helpless baby boy, and realize that he was the one entrusted to bring this baby to manhood; to instruct this son in the ways of God; to instill in him lessons of integrity that would help him cope in a wicked world? And in so doing, did he see himself in a similar relationship with God; his helplessness and God's sufficiency?

Did the birth of his other sons and daughters strengthen his walk with God? Probably so.

He is not mentioned in the list where God names three righteous men (Ezekiel 14:14), as we might expect. Luke's gospel mentions him in the genealogy of Jesus (Luke 3:37).

But we do know that he "walked with God" - Genesis 5 says it twice, in verses 22 and 24.

And we know that he was translated - he went to "walk with God" forever, without seeing death.

Hebrews 11:5 gives us another glimpse of this man: "By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, 'and was not found because God had translated him', for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

And Jude adds that Enoch spoke to (warned) the people living in his day about a future day of God's judgment. (Jude 14 & 15).

What does it mean to walk with God? When two walk together, they are in step with one another - they agree, there's unity between them. (See Amos 3:3). So it is when we journey with God.

There's an element of faith needed to walk with God. He is so much higher than mortal man, and we must hold His hand in faith, when we can't see the entire journey plan, knowing He knows best.

To walk with God is to take one step at a time - in His strength to gain victory over the smaller issues of life, and then, as we do so, to be victorious over the larger ones as well.

It was said of Enoch that he pleased God. This is an incredible statement from God, when we think that God, the Father, said this of His Son Jesus. (See Matthew 3:17).

God wants all His earth-born children to please Him - to wake up to each new day, and be able to say, "Today I want to live in such a way as to please my Father in heaven." What an aspiration! What a life worth living! And there's all the power in the universe to help us attain that goal.