How We “Walk with God”
In Genesis chapter 5, we’re given a genealogy of man, from Adam to Noah. And in the sixth generation of offspring after Adam, a man was born, and he was named Enoch. And I’m sure we’ve all heard of Enoch. Enoch was the father of Methuselah, the longest living man named in the bible. It’s recorded for us that Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. That’s a lot of years, isn’t it? But Enoch, didn’t live anywhere near that long, did he? If you remember from Genesis 5, verse 23, the bible says; “Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.” And we know why Enoch lived only 365 years don’t we? It was because of God, right?
It was! Enoch only lived 365 years, because of God. Verse 24 says; “..For God took him.” And what prompted God to take Enoch, at the “young age” of only 365 years? Verse 24 says; “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Thus we see that because Enoch “walked with God”, God took him off of this earth.
I wonder what exactly “walking with God” entailed for Enoch? I think we can be confident that God wasn’t in the habit of coming down from heaven, and going for physical “walks” with Enoch. But that thought does make me wonder abut another occasion in the garden of Eden, when it says in Genesis 3, verse 8 (speaking of Adam and Eve) “And they heard the ‘sound’ of the LORD God, walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
I wonder what kind of “sound” that was, that Adam and eve heard? We know from the words of Jesus Christ, in John 4:24, that “God is spirit”. And so I wonder what kind of “sound” the spirit of God makes, as He “walks along”, so to speak? Close your eyes and try to imagine that if you would. It’s kind of interesting isn’t it?
And I wonder if we shouldn’t spend more time meditating on God, and on some of the things that we read from the bible. Try it some time; Take some quiet time, and meditate on the “sound” of God in your life. The “sound” of God’s spirit “walking” with you, so to speak.
Do you think you’re “in tune” with God? Do you think along the same lines that God thinks along? Do you appreciate and seek after, the same things that God seeks after? God has told us what to seek after, hasn’t He? Jesus said in Mathew 6:33; “But seek ye FIRST, the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” God will provide all your physical needs, if you will simply walk with Him spiritually.
Here’s how to be “in tune” with God? Micah 6, verse 8 says this; “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Think about Jesus for a minute or two. Think about what Jesus said, in John 4:34; “My meat, is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to accomplish His work.” Would you say that Jesus was “in tune” with God the Father? We’re told that Enoch “walked with God”, but what about Jesus! How closely did Jesus “walk with God” ?
In order to “walk with God”, you’ve got to have the same desires that God has. And you’ve got to have the commitment, and the determination, to do all you can, to see that you do your part, in accomplishing “the work of God”. What does doing the “work of God” entail? Well, I’m sure it entails doing for others. And I’m sure it entails denying yourself. Like Jesus said in Luke 22:42; “..not My will, but Thine, be done.” And He said in Mathew 16:24; “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”
And I’m sure “walking with God” entails sacrificing for others, and sacrificing for God. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Mathew 20, verse 28 tell us; “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
“Walking with God” is sacrificing. Sacrificing for others, and sacrificing for God. We might say that the biggest part of Jesus’ mission, was to sacrifice. To put it more clearly, to BECOME the greatest sacrifice the world has ever known. But God has always asked for sacrifice, form every human being that has ever lived. From Adam and Eve, right down the line to us.
But getting back to Enoch; How exactly did Enoch “walk with God”? The answer is.. Enoch “walked with God” by doing exactly what God told him to do. It wasn’t a physical “walk”, but it was a spiritual “walk”. The only way anyone can “walk with God” is to DO what God tells them to do.
I wonder what kind of things God told Enoch to do? I wonder if Enoch ever felt like God as “infringing” on Enoch’s “free time” to do what HE wanted to do? Do you ever feel like that? Like God expects too much from you? Or that God expects too much of YOUR time? I would imagine, from the little bit that the bible tells us about Enoch, that he NEVER felt like that! I would think rather, that Enoch felt more like the way Isaiah felt. Isaiah wrote these words, in Isaiah 6, verse 8; “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
I get the impression that Enoch would have felt like that! Enoch “walked with God”. Somehow I can’t imagine Enoch, complaining. But rather, I picture him as just doing. You can’t “walk with God” and complain at the same time. As a matter of fact, in order to “walk with God”, you’ve got to be thankful. Not complain-full, but thankful.
We’re told in Colossians 3, verse 17; “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through Him.”
I get the feeling that Enoch was a thankful person. Thankful for everything that God had done for him, right up till the day that God took him; And no doubt he was thankful for that too!
And I would imagine that Enoch was asked to sacrifice a time or two. And I imagine he did it very well. Just like Abel, who the bible says, offered a “better” sacrifice. “Better” because it was in perfect accord with God’s word. In other words, Abel’s sacrifice was “of faith”, just like we’re told in Hebrews 11, verse 4; “By faith” the bible says, “..Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,” A “better” sacrifice as some versions put it.
You know “faith” as the bible speaks of it, doesn’t simply refer to what we “believe” in our mind. Even though “believing” is certainly a big part of “faith”. But bible “faith” is a lot more than that. The definition of the word translated “faith”, really means.. “to trust”. Not just to believe, but to “trust”. When you “trust” in someone, you DO what that person tells you to do.
For example; If you need to do something, but you really don’t know how to do it, you might go looking for advice. And you might ask two or three different people for their advice. And you just might get two or three different answers, or suggestions. And so you’ve got to decide, who are you going to listen to? Who’s advice are you going to follow? You are no doubt going to follow the advice, of the person whom you TRUST the most; The one who you BELIEVE, knows the best way to do it.
And so you could say, that one whom you “believe” to be the most knowledgeable, is the one who’s advice you “trust”. And the one who’s advice you “trust”, is the one you “obey” so to speak. It’s the one who’s advice you follow. And so what it boils down to, is the FACT, that when you “trust” someone, you DO what they advise you to do.
Now isn’t that a rather easy principle to apply to your relationship with God? I think it’s certainly easy enough to understand. If you truly “trust” the word of God, then obviously, you will DO what that word tells you to do. Do you think there’s someone else who has more knowledge? Is there someone else who you “trust” more? Well, I suppose the answer to that question lies in your RESPONSE to God’s word.
Jesus asked the simple question in Luke 6:46; “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not DO what I say?” Why? Why would someone call Jesus Lord, but not DO what He says? I’ll tell you why; It’s because they’re simply giving “lip service” , but in reality, they don’t TRUST Jesus! Nor do they trust God! And that’s as simple as it is. There is no other explanation. Oh, there may be lots of other “excuses”, but there’s no other explanation, other than not trusting the words of Jesus, and the words of God.
What do you think? Did Enoch “trust” God? How MUCH did Enoch “trust” God? Enoch “walked with God”. Does “walking with God”, denote “trusting” God? I’m sure it does. Does “walking with God” equate to obeying God? I’m sure that it does.
There’s no need for us to know exactly, what God told Enoch to do; All we need to remember, is that whatever God told Enoch, Enoch believed God, and he trusted God, and he obeyed God! And I’m quite sure that he did it precisely!
“Enoch walked with God, and he was not; For God took him.” You want God to “take you”, don’t you? I not talking about “taking” you miraculously, like He did with Enoch. But I’m referring to God “taking you” to heaven, at the last day.
Actually, I suppose I should say; You want Jesus to “take you” to heaven; Wouldn’t that be a scriptural way of putting it?
We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 says; “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through JESUS, God will bring with Him those having fallen asleep.” And verse 17 says; “After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.”
And 1 Corinthians 15, verses 24 thru 26 says; “Then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” And of course that will be at the resurrection. Death will be destroyed, when Jesus raises us all from our “sleep” called death.
And so you want Jesus to “take you” don’t you. Well, if you do, if WE do, then we’ve only got one choice; And that “choice”. is to “walk with God”. To believe God, to TRUST God, and to DO what God tells us to do.
That’s our invitation from God.. Believe in Him and in His Son Jesus; And trust in them, to the extent that we DO exactly what God’s word tells us to do. Hear His word, believe His word, believe in Jesus Christ, confess that faith openly, repent of your sins, turn from them and don’t ever turn back, be baptized for the forgiveness of those sins, and remain faithful, even unto death. In other words, “walk in obedience with God” until He take you home.
