Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Gen. 5:22-24)

       The genealogical record of Genesis chapter 5 is repetitious: men lived and died.  The repetition is broken with one man, Enoch, as Moses wrote, “God took him” (Gen. 5:24).  God decided His friend, the one who “walked” with Him, would not see death, so the Lord took him directly to heaven.  “The word walk implies a steady, progressive relationship and not just a casual acquaintance. To walk with God is the business of a lifetime, and not just the performance of an hour.”^[1]  It is written in the New Testament, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Heb. 11:5). 

…“Enoch walked with God and he was not; for God took him.” The phrase is full of meaning. Enoch walked with God because he was His friend and liked His company, because he was going in the same direction as God, and had no desire for anything but what lay in God’s path. We walk with God when He is in all our thoughts; not because we consciously think of Him at all times, but because He is naturally suggested to us by all we think of; as when any person or plan or idea has become important to us, no matter what we think of, our thought is always found recurring to this favorite object, so with the godly man everything has a connection with God and must be ruled by that connection. When some change in his circumstances is thought of, he has first of all to determine how the proposed change will affect his connection with God—will his conscience be equally clear, will he be able to live on the same friendly terms with God and so forth. When he falls into sin he cannot rest till he has resumed his place at God’s side and walks again with Him. This is the general nature of walking with God; it is a persistent endeavor to hold all our life open to God’s inspection and in conformity to His will; a readiness to give up what we find does cause any misunderstanding between us and God; a feeling of loneliness if we have not some satisfaction in our efforts at holding fellowship with God, a cold and desolate feeling when we are conscious of doing something that displeases Him. This walking with God necessarily tells on the whole life and character. As you instinctively avoid subjects which you know will jar upon the feelings of your friend, as you naturally endeavor to suit yourself to your company, so when the consciousness of God’s presence begins to have some weight with you, you are found instinctively endeavoring to please Him, repressing the thoughts you know He disapproves, and endeavoring to educate such dispositions as reflect His own nature. It is easy then to understand how we may practically walk with God—it is to open to Him all our purposes and hopes, to seek His judgment on our scheme of life and idea of happiness—it is to be on thoroughly friendly terms with God.^[2]

       Walking with God starts with a relationship.  It is a relationship in which we are rightly related to God by faith (John 3:16), and one that continues in faith (2 Cor. 5:7), trusting Him in all things (Prov. 3:5-6).  To “walk with God” is the ideal standard for a believer (Lev. 26:3-12; Gal. 5:16, 25; Eph. 4:1; Col. 2:6-7; cf. Rev. 3:4).  It does not mean a life of sinless perfection; rather, it means that when we sin, we handle it in a biblical manner with humility and confession (e.g. 2 Sam. 12:1-23; cf. 1 Kings 11:4; 1 Jo. 1:8-10).  Walking with God means we go in the same direction He is going, and like a friend, we are glad to share in His fellowship (1 Jo. 1:1-10).  It means God is regularly in our thoughts, and we live every day conscious of Him and His will for our lives (Rom. 12:1-2; Col. 3:16-17).  Walking with God means we are open and honest with Him about everything, and agree to let His light shine in our lives, not fearing what it exposes (1 Jo. 1:5-7).  It means being sensitive to what may offend Him, and making every effort to please Him through a life of faith (2 Cor. 5:9; Heb. 11:6).  May we all learn to walk with the Lord.

Steven R. Cook, D.Min.

Related Articles:

• What does it mean to walk with God? (GotQuestions)
• To walk with God. (Ray Stedman)

^[1] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 38.

^[2] Marcus Dods, The Book of Genesis (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1893), 51-53.