Derek Smith, Lead Pastor LHBC

Genesis 5:21-23
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

When we come to Genesis chapter 5 the world is quickly starting to populate. Adam and Eve have had sons and their sons have had sons, and so on and so forth. In this chapter you have a seemingly endless genealogy of this one begatting this one and that one begatting that one. What’s sad is that it just says this one begat this one and then died, that one begat that one and then died. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just live and die! There’s got to be more to life than just living and dying, and that’s where the story of Enoch comes in. By the way, don’t just skim through the genealogies of the Bible because you will miss out on some awesome truth. For example, the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1 lists five broken women who serve as shining examples of God’s grace because the Lord redeemed their stories by allowing them to be a part of the lineage of the Messiah, though the world thought they were lost causes.

Right in the middle of the genealogy in Genesis chapter 5, we have the life story of a man named Enoch. His name means “dedicated” and boy was he ever! He didn’t start this way, but life is not so much about how you start as how you finish. Enoch lived a typical life for 65 years, then he had a son. Having children will do something to you. The weight of responsibility now for another life drives some to stress, but it drives others to trust the Lord, and that’s what Enoch did. Scripture says he walked with the Lord intimately from that point on. The phrase “walked with God” gives us this picture of a daily, conversational, one-on-one relationship with Him. We are told in the Bible to walk in His ways, walk in His commands, and to walk in His law; so walking with God means strolling through His Word with an eye out for how He would have us to respond. Also, in the New Testament we are told to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, to walk in love, to walk in wisdom, to walk by faith not sight, and to walk in the Spirit, just to name a few. Walking is the natural movement of life, and so too in Christ these things should come supernaturally to us through His gracious work in us.

What happens when you walk with the Lord? Verse 24 says it best, “he was not.” When we walk with the Lord, there is less and less of us and more and more of Him. Enoch was physically taken up to heaven. It’s been said that Jesus and Enoch were so close that one day as they were walking together the Lord said, “Enoch, today instead of going back to your place why don’t you just come on up to My place for good.” I’m not sure how it went down, but how awesome would it be to just stroll on up to heaven?!

When you walk with God you’re not. As John cried, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) The longer we walk with the Lord Jesus, the more and more we should decrease and He should increase in us.     

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Lord, what a joy it is to know you! I want to walk with you every single day. I want to talk with you, listen to your voice, and follow your commands. The satisfaction of my soul is to walk with you. Today, may you increase and I decrease. I pray the world would not see me today, but that they would see you in me. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

MEMORY VERSE FOR THE WEEK:
Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.