Every book in the Bible is important. There are things to be learned from the Old Testament: God’s patience and long suffering, God’s love, even God’s wrath.
Some give man insight into the characteristics of God, while others tell of how men either were faithful to God or how they were unfaithful.
Perhaps one man who the Bible does not tell much about is one that all men should try and pattern themselves after. In Genesis 5:24 are the words, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
People down through the years have read these words and asked the question, “How can I walk this way?”
It is a very important question, and one that should be on the minds of each one who desires heaven for eternity. The Psalmist gives some direction in how to “walk” with God. There are other places and clues, but the following thoughts should help one find the way.
In Psalm 19 beginning in verse 7 the Psalmist begins to speak of God’s word. He states, “The law of the Lord is perfect; the testimony of the Lord is sure; the statutes of the Lord are right; the commandments of the Lord are pure; the fear of the Lord is clean; and the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous.”
These words are familiar to most who have studied the Psalms, but a closer look at each passage will help one find the answer on how to “walk with God.”
The “law of the Lord is perfect.” God’s word shows a person how to hate sin and bring them to God. Just as God’s laws of nature testify to man’s need for God, God’s law of pardon testifies to the need of a Savior.
Those under the Old Law in which David lived had to look forward to the coming of that Savior, but those who live under the Law of Christ look back to what has been done for them. God’s law is complete for man. It furnishes the direction to help man to heaven.
The “testimony of the Lord is sure.” God’s word bears testimony to itself. “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” (Titus 1:1,2).
The will of God has been revealed to man down through time. It is dependable or sure. Man may say something today, but tomorrow change his mind. Not so with God. When God said something that finished it.
The “statutes of the Lord are right.” God’s word has been given to man at different times. In the beginning God spoke to the fathers, this is called the Patriarch age; this was to Adam, Abraham, Noah and to others.
Later God gave the first written law to man, the Law of Moses; the Galatian letter tells that God gave the Law of Moses because of the sins of the people (Gal. 3).
In these the last days God has spoken to man by his Son and that word is recorded for all mankind (Heb. 1:1,2; 2 Tim. 3:16,17).
God was specific in what he asked man to do. In each period of time man had different instructions. God expected and expects man to keep his word.
Today man has been told to do the things that are right or necessary for salvation. As one studies the Bible it can be seen that all three time periods mesh together (Gal. 3:16-29).
Enoch walked with God by following God’s commands. Next week these thoughts will be continued.