Walking with Jesus

 

My hubby goes to a men’s prayer group each week. Last night, those men and their wives met at the leader’s home for fellowship and dessert. The fellowship topped the ‘sweet’ list. One of the wives was the person who made a wreath of pink tulips for me (because of this post). We’d only met once before yet our conversation was as if we had been sisters forever. Why? Because our desire to live for Christ was identical.

Today’s example is Enoch from the OT. He lived as many years as our calendar has days. It was said: “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:23–24) The NT put it this way:

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. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:5–6)

Enoch did not win God’s favor by something he did. Instead, God was pleased with him because he believed what God said, the same as Abel did before him and Noah after him, even the same faith of the thief who died beside Jesus and the faith of those who are in God's family today.

As for the walking part, the only way anyone can do this is by faith. I began my journey with the Lord by faith and cannot perfect or complete that journey by my own efforts in the flesh to do the good attitudes and actions as God commands.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6–7)

But how do I know what that looks like? The next chapter in Colossians describes a walk of faith. It is about priorities, attitude, hope, self-denial, and willingly allowing Christ to use me as a display of His goodness. That includes forgiving others and loving His family as my own with peace and thankfulness ruling my heart. It is also being in His Word and letting all He says affect all I think, say, and do.

If I have been raised with Christ… set my mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. I have died, and my life is hidden with Christ in God… I must put to death what is earthly in you… all evil desires and idolatry… putting them away, also anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk and lies. I’m to put on a compassionate heart, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and… forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven me. Putting on love as it binds everything together in perfect harmony, letting the peace of Christ rule in my heart… being thankful, all because the Scriptures richly dwell in me. I’m to teach, admonish in wisdom, sing praise and thanksgiving in my heart, and do all to glorify the Father God in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Colossians 3:1–17 personalized and paraphrased)

PRAY: Jesus, You are teaching me more often to pray Your words and as I do, the sense of You hearing and responding keeps increasing. Walking with You is not about me being sinless, but about knowing Your perfections are mine by faith, and as I keep my heart and mind on You, You are transforming me to be more like You. The more I see my weaknesses and failures, the more You remind me of Your goodness and grace. Walking with You is an incredible wonder!

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?

 

 

To be like Enoch . . .

Enoch was the father of the oldest man who ever lived, Methuselah, but that was not his most distinguishing characteristic. The Old Testament says, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)

The New Testament explains this about his life and that he did not die like ordinary people . . .

“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. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:5–6).

The comments in today’s devotional reading explain that Enoch was not special in his conduct, personality, or anything else except his faith. He believed in the Lord and his faith gave God pleasure.

Walking with God is about faith, not about being sinless, yet faith does produce a changed life. For instance, Colossians 3:1-17 tells me that a person of faith will have an eternal mindset because I have died to this world and my life is now hidden in Christ. Because of that, I’m to put away all that is sinful and worldly, things like impurity, covetousness, anger, malice, lying and slander. Instead, I’m to be compassionate, kind, humble, patient, and forgiving. I’m to love others as the Lord has loved me, and let His peace rule my mind and be thankful. I’m to let His Word richly fill my heart so that I might bless others, doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus.

It is not that this life is ‘my’ life, but it is the life of Christ — lived out in those who walk by faith, and this faith is the root of such a life. This is why God is pleased with faith.

Faith puts everyone on the same level because no matter who has it, all please God, from Enoch, to Noah, to the dying thief, to my mother, to me. Our lives may be distinctive in other ways, but by faith, those who believe in Jesus all please God the only way any fallen sinner can please God — by faith in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am sanctified by faith, justified by faith, and grow in grace as I grow in faith. My Christian life began in the Spirit and I am not made perfect by my own efforts, because no one can start by faith then finish by keeping the law. To walk with God is to continue as I started — by faith in Christ.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6–7)

Jesus, as You blessed me yesterday with the simple Gospel, You bless me again today with the truth about a simple faith. Trusting You is all that I need to walk with You. Faith roots my life in your life, builds me up and securely settles me — just as You have taught me. And because I am trusting You, I am also filled with joyful thanksgiving!