DAILY WORD 8/11/20

5. 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.

6. 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 NLT

Today’s passage covers another individual that the author profiles as he highlights the Faith that is the Fundamental Aspect of our Relationship with God.

Enoch is the second Giant of Faith summarized and he is an interesting case to be sure. Enoch is mentioned in only a few Verses of Chapter 5 of Genesis but the impact of his Faith resounds throughout the annals of time for one reason.

“And Enoch walked with God: and was not; for God took him.”, is all that we know about him besides his age and his lineage. But it is his close Relationship with God and his subsequent vanishing that most Christians recognize him for.

We do not know just what kind of Relationship he had with God or exactly what he did that so endeared him to God that he Spared him from death but the author of Hebrews seems to believe that it was his Faith.

The thing that resounds in us about Enoch and is so impactful about his vanishing is its correlation to our imminent “catching away” in the “Rapture”.

Enoch was so close to God and pleased Him so completely with his life, his actions, and his Faith that God chose to simply take him from the earth to continue on with his life with Him instead of tasting the sting of death.

This is a similar fate that Spirit-Filled Believers will experience when Jesus Returns to the Earth to Claim His Bride and whisk them away to Heaven to dwell there with Him.

But this story and its correlation to our walk with God is not the only noteworthy portion of this passage. There is another even more impactful part of this passage that cannot be ignored.

Verse 6 is as important as any verse on Faith and Relationship with God as any in the Scriptures. It illustrates for us just how important Faith is in our rapport with God and why.

“Without Faith it is impossible to Please God;” Why is that? Because we must first Understand and Believe that God Exists. But once that is established, we must then engage our Faith in active confidence.

That is to say, once we have the cognizant realization that God Exists, we must act upon the Fact that He Rewards those that Diligently Seek Him, which entails intimately Knowing, Studying, and Following His Will. That is the only way that it is possible to Please God. It makes sense when you think about it.

Apparently, Enoch’s Faith and his subsequent actions supported by that Faith so pleased God that He Raptured him away even before He Came to Earth as Jesus to make that same possibility available to all of His Creations.

Enoch was a trendsetter, a man before his time. If we want to see Jesus like he did all we have to do is exercise the same level of Faith that he did. Enoch walked with God and if we do the same, we will share in his Reward!

Have a Terrific Tuesday and Stay Safe out there!