Walking with Jesus

 

Today’s devotional is about Enoch, born soon after creation and who lived a long time. His claim to fame is two-fold: he was an upright man who walked with God, and he did not die but was taken into eternity without a body left for burial.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)

Like others back then, he lived hundreds of years so that was not unusual, but walking with God describes only a few, like Noah and others who fully trusted the Lord.

I imagine a child walking with his father, holding his hand and completely trusting dad without questioning where they were going, what they were doing, or asking “are we there yet.” It is a most relaxed and carefree life, not without trials and difficulties, yet without the anxiety experienced by those who think “I can do this myself” or “I don’t need help or God.”

Enoch’s life of simple faith reminds me of this verse: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Living this way is not complicated. Doing justice involves determining what is right and wrong and living accordingly. My three children are strong in their sense of justice. Our oldest is always the defender of the weak. The youngest stands out in the way he treats those who work for him. The middle one is a delight to be around because of her determination to see things done right and fair. All three correct me if I get off track, yet doing justice is not holding a big stick over the heads of others. Instead, it is a concern for peace and a genuine respect for people.

Loving kindness fits with God’s idea of justice. He wants us to do right because that is the best thing for us. Living righteously removes the consequences of living sinfully. It brings joy and peace. This is why God wants us to love kindness — because He does.

Walking humbly with God is not “see how good I am” but having a correct assessment of one’s own importance, acknowledging my sin, plus total dependence upon the Lord. Humility also is not self-focus — either in pride or self-pity but considering others as more important. The OT says this:

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

The NT describes humility as Jesus lived it:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:1–8)

Even though living this way is not complicated, it is challenging. The sinful old nature wants to rule even after realizing that Jesus died that I might live in the freedom and joy of walking with Him. The world and the devil continually throw junk at me.

Another part of Enoch’s life is that God took him — he did not die and require burial like almost everyone else. Many who believe in Jesus refer to this passage and link it to how He will take His people in the same way:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18)

PRAY: Whether I die or am ‘taken up’ is not a big issue. I know that You will usher me into Your presence for all eternity and in the meantime, You hold my hand so that I can walk with You.

PONDER: How can walking with Jesus make a difference to this day and to the way that I talk and treat others? How can I do justice and love kindness and mercy in greater humility? How is my attitude toward the return of Jesus and could I be more vocal about it?