#111: Giants of Faith IV: Enoch's Pleasing Walk with God

By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had a testimony, that he pleased God. Heb 11: 5

Thank God for the open heavens He has graciously granted us in our study in this series. Today God will be challenging our faith from the life of a man that scriptures again does not say much about, but the little that scriptures have said concerning him is sufficient to edify us.

Enoch was a very important character in the descendants of Adam. At least we know that he and Elijah did not taste mortal death. The bible says that:

After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years...and Enoch walked with God; and was not, for God took him. Gen 5:22-24.

Enoch was a man of habitual communion with God. For 300 years, Enoch was in constant relationship with God. The book of Hebrews tell us that while he was on earth, he pleased God. And talking about pleasing God, the next verse says that nobody can please God if they do not have faith in God.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Heb 11:6.

Enoch believed that God existed. He acknowledged that God existed in everything that he did. He was totally relying on a God in heaven to carry him through every phase of life, and that is why he was in a habitual walk with God. He would not take a step in life without acknowledging God. And this pleased the LORD so much. On one of his walks with God, he was taken off. But this is very significant for us as believers

1. God is able to deliver us (even from death) if we have faith in Him: While some men will actually have to die on account of their faith in God (like Abel), there are also some who will be delivered by God. A life that is pleasing to God that makes Him to save the soul from death. Are you looking up to God to save you from one situation or another. The hand of God is not short that He cannot deliver; sin is the barrier. Sin makes the habitual walk with God impossible, and makes the LORD's hand seems short to imply that He cannot deliver us. God rewards those who seek Him (for deliverance). But faith is the access code.

2.  You cannot walk with God without faith: when we say that we are walking with God, how often does it also entail that we believe in God's existence? In our day to day activities, do we act without a foresight of God? Then we cannot walk with God. Everyone who comes to God must believe that He is. Many of us are walking with God in a way that is not pleasing to God because it is not on the basis of faith (in God), but probably on the works we can do for God to get into His good book.

Before He was taken, he had a testimony. Walking with God is not a secret. It usually sets you apart from every other person. Everybody notices the difference. If you were to come to Enoch, you would notice that he was not alone. He was walking with someone (God) that probably he alone in his generation believed existed.

Thought: Men of old have always been relating with God on the basis of faith. It is faith and not works that pleases God. God never intended works to be the way to Him, neither was it intended to be the way to salvation. The Just shall live by faith.