He Pleased God

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Hebrews 11:5

The church anxiously awaits what we refer to as the rapture or "catching away" of its members into heaven to be with Christ for eternity. When this will happen is not known because Jesus even said, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.": Matthew 24:36 It is therefore not wise to fix dates even though we are prone to try to place it in various scenarios and times. We do know, however, that the fig tree, which is Israel, has blossomed as it has again been restored as a nation so the signs point to Christ's coming as near. Most are in agreement about that.

What much of the church is having problem with is the question as to who will be taken and who will be left behind. It appears that during the middle of the tribulation, during the great flight of Israel, that some will be taken and others left, if that is what is ment but who will actually go int he rapture? I believe we can find the answer in Enoch. He had a testimony that he pleased God! We are going to have to have this same testimony if we expect to be taken up. In Hebrews 11:6 it says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." We must have the faith to please him and to live for him. How can we expect to have the faith to go in the rapture when we don't seem to be abe to muster enough faith to make it our 100% effort to please him. Sadly, much of the church is lukewarm and Jesus said he would spew them out of his mouth. We must take care that we are not one of those rejected by Christ due to a lackluster, half-hearted Christian life.

It was said of Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24, "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 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." Notice Moses records that Enoch "walked with God" two times. The word walk in the Hebrew basically means "to go with, come, depart, die, live, and manner of life." This shows that he walked with God 24/7, doing as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." While Enoch didn't have the Holy Ghost like we now have today, he still could walk with God. So how do we walk with him, the answer is that we strive to please him. We cannot do this alone, but we must have his help which can be obtained by living in the Spirit. In Galatians 5:16 the Apostle Paul writes, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." This means we are continually "in tune" or in fellowship with Christ through the Holy Ghost. We obtain this, we are ready for the rapture. Can this be done? Of course, but there are times when we seem to get side tracked and things of the world drown this out. Do we give up and say, "I've lost my tender relationship with the Master so there's no use in trying to get it back." No way! We climb back up the mountain and partake of his blessings so we can continue to fight the battle against sin and see souls saved. We will always have hindrances and distractions but so did all the saints before us. We will always have responsibilities such as family, work, and other essentials of life but when walking in the spirit, God can help us bear fruit in these for his glory! Keep in there! Don't give up! God is on your side if you are on his and he'll help you even if you think you've failed. Remember what Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

In closing, there is also a very good devotion regarding Enoch by David Wilkerson and I urge you to read that as well. Walking With God - David Wilkerson