"Enoch walked with God." We felt it all at the same time. We read the verse in Genesis 5:24 and paused. Enoch walked with God. Then the question came..."I wonder if I walk with God like Enoch does?" We read it again and asked, "Is my walk with God that strong?" Silence. We were all thinking about it. What would God say about us? Would He say that we walk with Him? Like Enoch does? Ehhhh...I don't know. We were left pondering the thought.
Here's the entire verse, "Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him away." Enoch's walk was so strong that he never died. God just took him away when it was time. Mind-boggling.
I wanted to research Enoch further. My mind lingered over the simple verse for days. Enoch walked with God. What did Enoch's walk look like? How could I make my walk look like his? How could I teach this to the girls? What did he do that was so awesome to God?
There's not much said in the Bible about Enoch, but what is said, is pretty poignant. Enoch appears again in the faith chapter; Hebrews 11. It bears repeating: Enoch appears in the faith chapter. A clue-faith. I read further. Hebrews 11:5 "For before he (Enoch) was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God." Please God? How do I please God? More! I need more! Read on. Verse 6, "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." Enoch pleased God because he had faith and he earnestly sought God. Went after Him. Searched for Him.
Looking at the verse again, another question popped up. What is faith exactly? Obviously Enoch had enough that it pleased God, so maybe it too deserves another look. Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Have you ever really thought about a verse? Not just glazed over it? More questions arise when you think over a verse for awhile. The questions? What do I hope for? What does faith mean? Certain mean?
Since the Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek sometimes words can get lost in translation. Using www.blueletterbible.org I
found the original meanings for most of the words in this verse and it really broke it down and helped clarify some things. The translations: (Try putting me, my and I into verses to make them relevant to you.)
"Faith is being sure of my salvation and the conviction of it's reality."
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"Faith is having a conviction of my salvation which compels me to take action."
That helped a lot. Do I hope for my salvation? Do I have a conviction that compels me to act? Strikes a cord, doesn't it? Enoch had a conviction of his salvation that compelled him to act and it pleased God. I want that. Don't you?
Final question. How do we get that kind of faith? We know faith pleases God but how do we obtain it? More research. Romans 10:17 "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." How do we get that Enoch faith? By hearing (or reading) the Word of God.
Think of someone you know who has a lot of integrity. Someone you would trust with your life or with your children's lives. They never lie to you, always love you no matter what and they've never let you down. You trust them. If they told you something important that would save your life, would you believe them? Of course you would. We all have those people in our lives we'd trust anything they said because of their integrity. You heard them and you believed them. You heard their words and had faith in what they told you. That's how the Bible works. The God of integrity, who we can trust, has written a letter to us. When we read and hear what He's written to us, we'll become convicted with a belief in what He's saying and it will compel us to act.
Hear His Words. Believe. Act. Please God.
Lea :)
Don't take my word on any of this! Check out blueletterbible.orr for yourself. It breaks down words, verses and passages into their original meanings, supplies commentaries and a ton of other resources. I encourage you to check it out!
www.blueletterbible.org