The Walk of a Lifetime

In one of my earlier trips through the Bible, I was captured by the manner in which Enoch’s story jumps off the pages of God’s Word.

 

Genesis Chapter 5 presents a family tree taking us from Adam to Noah.  As we travel through the years, a repetitive, if not boring, pattern emerges.  First we read the father’s name.  Next we read how old he was when he had his first son.  We then read how many more years he lived and the fact that he had other sons and daughters.  Finally we read about his death.

 

Then, all of a sudden, we are introduced to generation number seven.  A man named Jared has a son named Enoch.  Jared’s story is predictable, but then we read about his son.  Here is what we find in Genesis 5:21-24.

 

“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.”

 

As I consider what it means to walk with God, I think about what Paul taught us in Galatians 5:25.  “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”  This manner of walking with God is active.  We’re not talking about a casual stroll, but rather an intentional, day-by-day, step-by-step journey with God.

 

This is what caught me when I read this passage previously.  Enoch didn’t just live; he walked with God.  While this is an incredible statement, what caught me this time is something totally different.

 

Looking at Genesis 5, we find that most of these guys lived into their 900’s before dying.  However, when Enoch was a mere 365, God took him away.  Enoch wasn’t even half as old as most of the other men listed when he was taken.  Here is a statement signifying what was impressed on me.

 

Walking with God for half a lifetime is better than a whole lifetime without Him.

 

Think about it.  Enoch was only middle-aged, but what stands out about his life is that he walked with God.  As you consider all the things that might have been said about him, the fact that he walked with God is what the Bible records.  And all this from the man who left the earth early compared to those that came before him and those that followed.

 

I pray that my life, no matter how long or short it is, would be characterized by walking with God.