Genesis 5:21-24 (NIV): When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Enoch was a standout in his generation, because he walked with God, all day, every day. To walk with God means to live life consciously in His presence. Not just to keep Him in mind, but to be instantly and constantly connected to Him, mindful of Him every moment, so that when He speaks, the ears are already turned on and tuned in. Those who walk with God are those who hear and obey His every word, and who thus become His messengers to their generation.
Enoch walked with God – He listened to God, he heard His voice, he lived a life through which his godliness showed powerfully, and he spoke God’s words to those around him. The words that he spoke were not words of comfort, but of judgment. (See Jude 14-15 for a sample.) Even the naming of his own son, Methuselah (“After him it shall come.”) was a prophecy of the doom that was hanging over the heads of those sin-filled people. The year that Methuselah died, the flood came and destroyed the earth.
It is God’s desire that all of His people walk with Him. It is not enough for them to know ABOUT God, to know Bible stories, or to have information about His character. He has made Himself available to know personally, so that we can have a relationship with Him. He has revealed Himself to all humanity (most clearly through Jesus), so that anyone can know Him, can walk with Him, can live every minute of every day in a powerful relationship with Him.
Walking with God is not easy. It is not the path to popularity, or to what the world calls success. It is not a relaxed life, but a life always lived on the cutting edge. It is a life full of challenges, sometimes danger, often threats. (Take a look at the life of the apostle Paul for a reasonably complete picture.) It is a life of speaking God’s words to a generation that doesn’t usually want to hear them; of being considered a fool or insane by those who are well-placed in society. But to those who walk with God, none of that matters. All that matters is the glory of His presence, the sweetness of fellowship with God, the joy of hearing His voice all through the day, and the elation of watching God’s power work through them to save the lost, and to shape and change the world.
Enoch never tasted death. He walked with God his whole life, and then God took him to be with Him forever. In an instant, in the blink of an eye, God transformed his earthly body into a heavenly body (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-53), and took him to Himself for all eternity. He is the prototype of the life of a Christian. Those who walk with God in Christ will, like Enoch, never taste death. Even if their physical bodies die, they themselves will only experience a transition into God’s presence. Those who walk with God and are alive when Jesus returns, will experience the same instantaneous transformation that Enoch did.
The important thing is to walk with God, to live a life completely established, and rooted, and founded in Him. To live a life so close to His heart that we hear every word He says. To have a heart so focused on God and his agenda that the immediate response to hearing His voice is obedience. If we live that kind of life in God, no troubles or persecutions will derail us; no challenges will discourage us; no siren song of temptation will every lure us away from His side. Instead, we will walk with God continually, all the way to eternity.
Father, what a glorious thing it is to walk with You, to live in Your presence, to hear Your voice constantly guiding, directing, encouraging, and comforting. Help us all, Lord, to live constantly in Your presence, to walk with You continually. Amen.