It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—"he disappeared because God took him." For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:5-6
Have you ever thought about the faith that is required to follow someone? The other day, I was in the car following my friend in her car from one destination to the next, and the thought occurred to me, "I really hope she knows where she is going!" Without putting much thought into it, I had put all of my faith in my friend and her car in front of me. I wondered if I should put our destination into my GPS when I got to a traffic light, but I decided not to. I had faith in my friend to get us where we needed to go. Thankfully, my faith was well-founded and my friend and I made it to our destination. This situation reminded me that following and walking with someone requires faith. This is true in our relationship with God. If we want to follow Him, we have to have faith.
Enoch was a person in Scripture who knew that walking with God requires faith. He is first mentioned in Genesis 5 in the Old Testament as a man who walked with God (verse 23). The writer of Hebrews elaborates on the life of Enoch in Hebrews 11, which gives us a bigger picture of what it looks like to walk with God. Hebrews 11 is a chapter dedicated to faith in God. Throughout this chapter, men and women of great faith are listed. One of these men is Enoch. Hebrews 11:5 tells us, "It was by faith Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—'he disappeared, because God took him.' For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God." Knowing what we know about Enoch in Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11, we can conclude that walking with God is an act of faith. This makes sense, doesn't it? When you follow someone, you have to have faith that they know where they are going, and walk with them in that direction.
As the writer of Hebrews wrote about Enoch's faith, he included a quite definitive statement about faith. "And without faith," he wrote, "it is impossible to please God" (verses 5-6). Take a moment to let those words soak in: it is impossible to please God without faith. This faith, my friends, is what God desires from all of us, and when we have faith, we please Him. What we learn from Enoch is that faith looks like walking with God. It involves forward movement as He leads us.
Our question to wrestle with today is "Do we have the faith of Enoch?" Are we walking with God, moving in the direction He is leading us? My friends, if we have faith, we must walk with God in such a way that our actions prove our faith in Him. May you and I commit to following Him each and every day.
Take a few moments to evaluate your faith. What is going well? Where is there room for improvement? Is there an area of your life where a lack of faith is keeping you from fully walking with God? What is that area? Spend some time reminding yourself of how God has taken care of you and provided for you in the past. How does God's faithfulness to care for you in the past give you confidence for the future, even in the area where you are struggling to walk with God in faith?
Read Hebrews 11:1-6 (NLT)
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.”For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
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