God, Enoch and Me

…and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:23-24

Yesterday, I attended the first of a 10-week study on the book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by Tom Wright (affiliate link). One of the questions posed in the study guide (as an aside I detest study guides, unless they are only used if the discussion gets stuck or no one is participating) was “What stories in the Bible make you think of what it’s like to have a relationship with God?”  (Maybe that really wasn’t exactly the question, but as I learned from Dr. Dibble at Milligan College – If you don’t know the answer to the question asked, answer a similar question where you do know the answer). Immediately I thought of the above passage, ‘Enoch walked with God’.

I’ve always thought that was the Ultimate Relationship to have with God!

I remember when I was a child playing with a friend in the woods near our home. Often we would be having so much fun that when one of us was called to come home, we would ask to bring our friend because we were having so much fun we wanted it to continue. I just imagine this as the relationship Enoch had with God!

You may know that I am walking a 50k this month as a part of my 50k at 50. I’ve found that walking with someone makes the experience so much more enjoyable! The minutes click by the miles seem easy and before you know it, you’re done! I imagine this is what Enoch and God felt as they walked together.

It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of an over powering, all knowing, ogre of a God.

But that is not what is reflected in this passage between God and Enoch. The God depicted with Enoch appears to be a friend, a buddy! The person you call just to chat. The one who comes to your rescue when you’re stranded on the road or who offers to loan you the money for your dog’s emergency surgery. The relationship shown between God and Enoch is that God would be the first to arrive at your party (to make sure you were ready) and the last to leave (‘cos he was helping you clean up)! And even the guy who ‘calls you out’ when you’re wrong! Who lovingly points out changes you need to make.

When I think about the relationship I want to have with God, I think about Enoch. I think about being out on a walk with God and when it is time for our walk to be over God saying “I’m not ready for the fun to be over, why don’t you come over to my place and hang out?”

What about you? What do you think?