Everyone Lives. Everyone Dies. Not Everyone Walks.
By Michael Kelley
Genesis 5 isn’t usually a chapter of the Bible we pay a lot of attention to. Creation has happened, complete with God’s crown jewel of humanity, created in His image. Devastation has come upon the creation, as exemplified by the first murder of Abel by Cain. All this happens in Genesis 1-4. Then in Genesis 6, we find the story of Noah. But tucked in between is Genesis 5 - a genealogy that details the generations between Adam and Noah.
In that genealogy, we find a definite pattern. By way of example of this pattern, consider Genesis 5:3-8:
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. After he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died (Gen. 5:3-8).
You see the pattern? It goes like this: So and so became the father of so and so junior, and after that so and so lived more years. Then so and so lived a total of years, and then so and so died. And that pattern continues all the way through hundreds and hundreds of years and several generations all the way until verse 21, and then the pattern changes. Once again, here is what we find:
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away (Gen. 5:21-24).
This is strange. This is different. And it sticks out all the more in the midst of all the other generations. And because of that difference, we can make the following very simple insight:
Everyone lives. Everyone dies. Not everyone walks.
In other words, there is a way that we can live when it comes to our relationship with God that is more than living. It is so much more than living that you wouldn’t even use the same word for it. Enoch didn’t just live; he walked with God.
How do you not just live, but walk with God? At the risk of being simplistic, the answer is at least this - you walk with God on purpose.
Walking is an intentional activity. While we might accidentally fall asleep or accidentally lounge or accidentally slouch, we don’t accidentally walk. We do it because we decide to do it. The same thing is true in our relationship with God - we relate to God to the degree we consciously decide to do so.
Now there are all kinds of choices we make on a daily basis with regard to our walk with God. We choose to engage with Him in His Word. We choose to pray. We choose to be a regular part of the gatherings of God’s people. But at the heart of all those choices is choosing a posture of active awareness of the presence of God.
CS Lewis once said that "we can ignore, but not evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him." And it indeed is. But despite the pervading presence of God in and around us, many of us are in the habit of walking around like functional atheists, all because we fail to actively recognize the presence of God in our daily lives.
Do you acknowledge His presence in the ordinary moments of life? Are you aware that God is with you every moment? Do you, as Brother Lawrence once wrote, practice the presence of God? You can. Because for the Christian, the question is not whether or not God is with you, but just how aware of His presence you are at a given moment.
Though walking with God involves many things, it starts with this - choose an active awareness of God’s presence. Right now.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
