By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)
Enoch lived such a holy and righteous life that God Himself testified to it—not once, but twice in sacred Scripture.
After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years. . . . Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. (Genesis 5:22, 24)
So pleased is God when we walk by faith before Him that He is committed to testifying to it as a fact before men. In essence, this is the testimony of God to a life well-lived before His face and in the presence of others. Enoch walked faithfully with God every step of the way into heaven.
Can the same be said about us? Is our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ a walk that is rooted in faith . . . or a walk that is rooted in sight? What would be the testimony of God about our lives?
Look at it this way; never do we more closely bear the image of our God than when we are walking faithfully with Him. And never is God more pleased with us than when we are bearing more of His image. To be sure, when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, the image of God in them was stained by sin and that stain marred its perfection. Today, you and I bear God’s image imperfectly in everything we do, but we do still bear God’s image. And never do we bear it more than when we are walking faithfully with our God.
To walk with someone is to be in close proximity with them. As you walk, you talk together and your attention is focused on the one you are walking with. You are in step with that person and you share a time of intimate companionship with that person. This is what it means to walk faithfully with your God. We are in close proximity to Him; we are focused on Him; we are sharing a time of intimate fellowship with Him. When we do that, we are affirming that God is the greatest good in our life, and we live at the level described by A. W. Tozer: We “live in a state of unbroken worship.”
Walking by faith is trusting God even when we cannot trace Him. We walk in unwavering obedience to His Word and His will, regardless of the cost or circumstance. This was the confession of the life lived by Enoch. And Enoch was not alone in the biblical account. It is said of Noah that he was “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). This is God’s goal for every one of His children . . . and He is committed to testifying to it.
So be encouraged today by the example of Enoch! Make it your heart’s deepest desire to live a life marked by walking with your God wherever He leads, knowing that it will ultimately be for His glory and your good.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 