Take a Walk with Me - Pt 4

 

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. (Genesis 5:21-24 ESV).

 

The Appalachian Trail, often referred to as the A.T., is an iconic long-distance hiking trail which runs for approximately 2,200 miles between Springer Mountain, Georgia and Mount Katahdin, Maine in the American East. There are few hiking trails in the world that are more iconic, and the Appalachian Trail thru hike - completing the entire route in one season - is attempted by around 3000 people each year, though the number who hike a small part each year runs well into the millions. I am one of those who have hiked “a small part” of it! The picture I’ve attached is the trailhead at the southern end of the A.T. in Georgia. If you are able to be in the trail-thru hike it is only a bit over 2,000 miles to the end from here!

 

I find it difficult to imagine walking a long-distance trail like this one. I am told that it can give you a feeling of timelessness. Although the landscape changes, the day-to-day rhythm remains the same: walk, eat, sleep; repeat. The life of Enoch, an early descendant of Adam and Eve, also has a sense of timelessness about it. He lived for 365 years and did not die! Yet Enoch’s lifespan was short for his family. Enoch’s father, Jared, lived to the age of 962. At age 65, Enoch had a son named Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old!

 

The four short verses about Enoch’s life don’t tell us much, but we do learn one crucial fact about him: “Enoch walked faithfully with God.” In his long life of stepping through each day, Enoch walked in a way that pleased God. In fact, God was so pleased with Enoch’s faithful walk that he spared Enoch from the curse of death.

 

Certainly there is mystery in this story. Yet there is no mystery about how to please God. God calls us to walk faithfully with him, trusting him, honoring him, and serving him. God will probably not take us away as he did with Enoch, but we have the comfort of knowing that Jesus, who conquered sin and death for us, has promised never to leave or forsake us when our own lives end. Perfection is not the goal. Commit to a faithful walk!