Reward Offered!

I was reading in Genesis 5 the other day about the family of Adam.  An interesting fact that stood out to me was that all his descendants were listed with the number of years they lived and the number of children they had.  The descriptions for all of them had the exact same format and order.  But, when you come to Enoch in verse 22, it is different.  I knew about Enoch because of His special relationship with God, but I have never seen it written about him in this specific way.  The Bible doesn't only say how long he lived, but also how long he walked with God:

Gen 5:21-23 NKJV - 

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 

One of my most favorite topics in the Bible is faith.  I love reading about those who did exploits and received greatly from God because of their faith.  The Bible says in Heb 11:6 that faith pleases God.  There are many reasons for this - He himself is a faith God and created the worlds by faith.  Also, He loves to bless His children, but He expects us to receive what He has given.  In order to receive though, you need faith. 

If you were to ask people what they believe about who God is, they might give vague answers.  They believe He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, His is almighty and all knowing, etc.  Most people get the first part right, but in Heb 11:6 God says what we should believe about who He is:

Heb 11:6 NKJV - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  

Firstly, we must believe that God is, that He exists.  But then we must also believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  

Have you ever heard someone read the Word and you can't wait for it to be over?  But then someone else reads it and you wish it would go on forever because it seems like every word is speaking directly to you?  That is because  they are reading it by faith.  Whenever I find that I can’t wait to get finished with my daily Bible reading, I realize it is because I didn’t ask the Holy Spirit in faith to open the Word and speak to me.  He is after all the Author of the Book and knows what I need to see.  When I then read by faith expecting the Word to come alive, things stand out, God speaks and I can sense His presence and joy in the pages.

If you read the Bible with expectation that He will reward you by meeting with you in the pages, if you pray with excitement believing that He hears every word that is offered according to His Word, it will set you up for the greatest journey of your life offering the most wonderful rewards.  The God of the universe is ready and eager to respond to you.

So, back to Enoch.  What happened to him?  Was he ever found? 

Gen 5:24 NKJV - And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Enoch was a grandson of Adam and Eve and must have heard stories of how they walked and talked with God in the cool of the day.  I am sure this stirred him to want to find out more about this God.  He didn’t have a Bible to read, so I am wondering if one day he went outside his house in the cool of the evening and looked up to the heavens, thinking that surely God is still there.  Perhaps he hesitated, but spoke up and said: “God, if you are real, I sure would like to speak to you”.  Enoch is in the faith hall of fame because not only did he believe that God existed - even though He didn’t have a Bible to verify this - but he also believed with no real evidence that this could happen, that God would reward him by responding to him when he searched for God by faith.  So, Enoch hit the jackpot and got rewarded big time.  He started communing with God daily and the next thing you know, God liked it so much that He took Enoch Home.  What a reward - what a thrill this must have been for Enoch.  

Heb 11:5 NKJV - By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Don’t you want that?  Don't you want your eternal testimony to be that you pleased God?  I do.  It seems simple enough.  I already believe that God exists, now all I need to do is to believe that if I look to Him, speak to Him, love on Him, He will respond.  He will hear, He will love, He will answer back.  Rather than people saying she lived for many years, I want them to say that she walked with God for many years.  Anything less than that would not be a life well lived.   

God has done His part.  He has made it easy.  You don’t need to take the train or a plane or a 5-day journey on a donkey, to visit Him.  Just turn the eyes of your heart and all your attention to Him in believing that not only is He there - willing and ready to respond and love on you - but He is already waiting with the reward..  The next move is yours!

James 4:8 NKJV - Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Photo credits - Janine's amazing collection.

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