Enoch – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

Why is faith so important?

Because for whatever reason, it is the one thing that God desires from all of us as his creatures.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that it is for their faith that God commended all that came before us. (Hebrews 11:2)

More, it is our faith and that faith alone that will commend us before God even now. For from that faith, everything else springs: the love we have for him, the worship we offer him, and the obedience and loyalty that we have for him.

Think about it. If we do not believe that he exists, that he loves us, and that he is looking out for our best, will we love him? Will we worship him. Will we be loyal to him and obey him?

Fear may take care of the latter three, but God does not want us to worship him, be loyal to him, and obey him out of fear. Rather, he wants us to do these things out of our love for him.

And for this reason, the writer of Hebrews tells us,

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Think about Cain for a moment. Why was his sacrifice rejected?

We don’t know all the details, but from what the writer of Hebrews tells us, it ultimately came down to the fact that his offering did not come from his faith in God.

Perhaps he gave his offering grudgingly, muttering in his heart, “Why do I have to give this to God?”

Perhaps God had required an animal sacrifice, and Cain thought, “Why aren’t the things I grow as a farmer enough? I’ll just give what I want to give.”

But whatever the reason, Cain failed to show faith in God. And because of that, God rejected his offering.

Abel, on the other hand, offered his sacrifice by faith. And because of his faith, he loved God, was loyal to him, and obeyed him. So when God saw his sacrifice, he gladly accepted it.

Think about Enoch. He was one of two people that never tasted death. (Elijah was another). God simply took him to be with him.

Why? Because “he walked with God.”

When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, they translated “walked with God,” as “pleased God.”

In short, to please God, you need to walk in close relationship with God.

But you cannot walk in close relationship with God if you don’t believe he exists, believe that he loves you, and believe that he’s looking out for your best. It is simply impossible.

How about you? Do you want to live a life pleasing to God? Do you want to have his commendation in your life?

Then ask yourself: Do I truly believe he exists? Do I really believe he loves me? Do I truly believe he is looking out for my best?

Until you can answer yes to all three questions, you’ll never be able to truly please him.

Where is your heart today?

Walking with God

Admit it. You usually skip over these sections in the Bible where so and so gave birth to so and so who gave birth to so and so. So do I.

But from time to time you can glean some interesting information.

Methuselah, for example. He was the longest living person who ever lived. When did he die?

Well, if I did my calculations right, he died the year of the flood.

He lived 969 years in total. He had Lamech when he was 187 years old and lived 782 years after that. He actually outlived his son by 5 years.

Lamech had Noah when he was 182, and lived 595 years after that. Noah was 600 years old when the flood came, which means that Lamech died 5 years before the flood, while Methuselah died the year of the flood.

So the question comes, “Did Methuselah die just before the flood or did he die because of the flood?”

Noah’s great grandfather (probably—the word “father” in Hebrew can also mean “ancestor” so it’s not 100% clear what their relationships were) was Enoch.

Enoch and Noah were both known as men who “walked with God.”

It makes you wonder about Methuselah and Lamech. Did they walk with God too? Or were they as corrupt as the rest of the world around them?

When Lamech named Noah (“Noah” means “comfort”), and said, “Noah will bring me comfort in this God-cursed land,” was he complaining against God, or was he thanking God that despite the troubles in the world, God had given him a blessing?

I don’t know.

Lamech never had to make the decision whether to enter the ark or not. But there’s a chance that Methuselah did.

Did Methuselah argue with his crazy grandson about this ark Noah was building? Did he think that Noah was as crazy as the rest of the community did? Was that why Methuselah perished?

Interesting questions. We’ll never know this side of heaven.

But considering that the Bible took the time to say that Enoch and Noah were notable for walking with God, you’d think that the Bible would make note of it if it were true about Lamech and Methuselah too.

But what does it mean that Enoch and Noah walked with God?

I think it’s a relationship with God where you’re constantly aware of his presence.

I’m not saying that you think about him 100% of the time. Obviously, we have to work, or we spend time with friends or family, etc.

But for example, when I’m at home, although I may not be talking with my wife 100% of the time, I’m usually aware of where she is in the house and generally what she’s doing.

And I’m always aware that she’s there to talk to whenever I want to or need to.

Of course, there are also times when she interrupts what I’m doing to talk with me too.

It’s the same with us as we walk with God throughout the day. We may not be praying 100% of the time, but we’re consistently aware of his presence, we’re quick to talk to him as things happen in our day, and we notice the things that he’s doing in the world around us.

I do some of those things. I do pray a lot throughout the day, even if it’s just mundane things like, “Wow Lord! That last English student was really tough to teach.”

I also have more serious conversations like, “Well, Lord, my wife and I got into a fight. Now what do I do?”

But how often am I aware of what God is trying to do around me? And how often am I willing to interrupt my schedule to cooperate with what he’s doing?

Sometimes I’m at work, and I’m trying to read while eating lunch. And someone comes in and starts talking to me.

Sometimes I’ll put the book down and chat, but other times, I’ll just give short answers, and go back to reading.

Did I just miss an opportunity God was giving me?

It’s so easy to kind of read our Bible at home, and pray, and then say, “Okay God. Good talking with ya. See ya later.”

We then give him nary a thought the rest of the day.

But when we do that, we miss a lot of the things he’s trying to do in us, and in the people around us.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be like Enoch and Noah. I want people to see me as someone who “walked with God.”

Lord, help me be more aware of your presence in my life every day. Help me also to see what you’re doing in the world around me.

And help me be willing to interrupt my schedule to join hands with you in what you’re doing. In Jesus’ name, amen.