As a kid I was fascinated with the story of Lou Gehrig. They called him, “The Iron Horse of Baseball." In my still childlike mind he is one of the greatest sports stars ever. Like every kid my age I just knew that one day I would be a major league baseball player, maybe even get into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Kids need role models and so do we. Jesus is the one we strive to be like, but as one young guy reportedly said, “I need someone with skin on.”
If you are going to walk, “Along the Road to Emmaus” You need to know about the greatest walker of all time. His name is Enoch he has a very short biography. You will find him in Genesis 5:21. He gets four sentences.
“When Enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah Enoch walk with God three hundred years and had other son and daughters. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more because God took him away.” What makes Enoch the greatest walker of all time is not that his life span was 365 years; he is the greatest walker of all time because he walked so close to God that he didn’t die. He just walked right into Heaven!
There is a therapeutic dimension to walking. Walking relieves stress, crystallizes thinking and spurs optimism. I have found it to be the best vehicle to prepare my heart to commune with God. According to one commentator the phrase, walk with God,means a person lives a spiritual life in which he tells God everything. We face our own demons when we become transparent with Jesus. The physical act of walking helps us to sort these out; the spiritual aspect is when we talk to Jesus about them as we walk.
As Jesus walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus he opened the scriptures and their hearts burned within them. The writer of Hebrews does the same for us as he reflects on one the heroes of The Hall of Faith. I’ve never been to Cooperstown but Chapter eleven is just such a place and Enoch is one of the superstars.
Hebrews 11, verses 5 and 6
5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found; for God had translated him. But before his death he left this testimony that he pleased God.
“He pleased God” and “He walked with God” are synonymous. God is not pleased with our promises of what we will do. God is not pleased by our human effort. God is not pleased by the number of things we quit doing. God is please when we walk with Jesus and tell him everything one step at a time. This can be scary. But verse six addresses that issue.
6. Now without faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
Faith in this situation means
A. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He and His Father are one.
B. I believe that he knows everything there is to know about me and wants me to tell him everything.
C. I believe he will listen as I walk transparently with him and will love me the same no matter what I say.
Dennis Bazzell lives in Fenton MO just south of St. Louis. I can be contacted at 314-971-3692 or revdcb@yahoo.com
