It is written that Enoch walked with God and was no more, so what does it mean to walk with God?

In Agreement

It’s impossible to talk to someone who you are walking with if they’re lagging behind or 10 feet in front of you, so walking with God means we’re in agreement with God. We’re “in step” with wherever He is going and wherever He leads. Amos the Prophet asked, “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet” (Amos 3:3)? Obvious you cannot. If you believe in God and your friend doesn’t, it’s going to be very difficult to walk together in life, not to mention, marrying someone who is an unbeliever (which is sin. i.e., 2 Cor 6:14; 15:33). We can have disagreements over religion, a relationship, or a philosophy of life, but unless the two can walk together, meaning they can agree on theological things, they cannot walk together.

Walking with God

Shortly after the fall in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Gen 3:8), but instead of joining God, they hid from God because they had sinned. Originally, God had walked with them in fellowship and in relationship, but once they choose to disobey God, they were no longer in agreement because of their disobedience. After the fall, it didn’t take long when “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). In only a few generations, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Gen 6:11-12). Now humans no longer walked with God, with one exception: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Gen 6:9). Noah and his family walked with God and so they survived the flood. As for the rest of mankind, the only thing they walked together on was “that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5).

Enoch Walks with God

Enoch walked with God, so what does it mean to walk with God? I believe it means that we don’t get ahead of what God has in store for us or His will for our lives and we don’t take steps according to our own will but get in step with God’s will and what the Bible says. To be in step with God means we obey God. We can’t hear what God may be telling us if we’re way out ahead of His will or we’re out of fellowship with Him, or we’re heading off in some other direction, away from the will of God. We can’t walk with God if we’re not doing what He commands us to do. We know that God opens doors that no one can open and closes doors that are not good for us to walk through, so if we are walking with God, we’ll go through the right door and at the right time (or at the same time!). We’ll walk where He walks and go where He goes, but it also means, we don’t’ go where we know God would not go.

Follow Me

Jesus frequently told those He called to “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt 4:19). Hundreds said they were Jesus’ disciples, but when Jesus’ teachings were difficult to accept, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66), so they could no longer walk with God as Jesus is God. Following Jesus is more than just walking in agreement. The Word says, “whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matt 10:38), so “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). In one case someone said they’d follow Jesus, but, “said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Luke 9:59), and “Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home” (Luke 9:61). They said they believed in Jesus and wanted to follow Him (walk with Him), but they proved they were not truly His disciples.

Walking in Obedience

If we walk behind God, we are still not following His will for our lives. We may be lagging behind and not going where He is going and where He intends for us to go (i.e. Matt 25:35-36). We may miss where He wants us to go, and if He has opened a door for us, it might not be open when we finally get there, but mainly, walking with God means to be walking along side of God by doing the things He commands (e.g. Matt 28:18-20). When we walk with God we can more easily talk with God and hear from God. When we walk together, it shows that we are in agreement with one another. This is clearly why “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Gen 5:24).

Conclusion

Walking with God means that we “do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:4). It also means we must walk by “faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7b), clearly understanding the path to which we should take (as revealed in Scripture). The Apostle Paul warned, “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise” (Eph 5:15). Paul urges us all to “join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us” (Phil 3:17). The just must live by faith. A faith, like when “Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God” (Heb 11:5). May the same thing be true for you, and for me.

Here is some related reading for you: Being Intentional in our Christian Walk: 7 Ways to Live with Purpose

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Enoch, obedience, Walk with God, Walking Together