2 Chronicles 16:9 “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
The Lord…Who is He?
God, The Father of all creation, the maker of it all, chose this same word “Lord” as His personal name to be revealed unto His people. Its first appearance is Gen. 2:4. Apparently Adam knew God by this personal or covenantal name from the beginning.
We too can know God’s names, but that’s not enough. Someone can know all the information about God like: self existent, eternal, He is personal and intimate and He makes covenants with us, however unless we acknowledge that to be true then we’ll never know Him in a way that will make our lives whole and satisfied. I’ll start connecting the dots for you if you don’t mind.
Let’s focus on a couple words: Intimate, Personal, and Covenant Maker. And I’ll tie it together with a story about a dude. Let me introduce you to Enoch.
A couple chapters after Adam arrives on the scene he starts having babies. Babies eventually have babies and soon enough a man named Enoch is mentioned. Now Enoch is the great, great, great, great grandson of Adam (the papa of us all). Let’s take a look at how Enoch acknowledged Who God Is in his life.
Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God: and He was no more; for God took him.”
Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
When two people walk together it means that they are agreeing to go in the same direction. A covenant is an agreement between two or more people to acquire the goal agreed upon. An agreement also takes a certain amount of personal or intimate relationship. When I agree with the Lord I’m acknowledging that who He is (a personal, intimate, covenant making, excellent, eternal, self existent God) is true. But in a covenant, “to agree” isn’t enough. To truly have an intimate relationship and abide with someone in a covenant we must not only agree but also take appropriate action. The Bible tells us, “Do you still think it’s enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble with terror!” (James 2:19)
The fact is when I really want to get personal and intimate with the Lord I must “agree with who God is” then “respond to who God is”. Enoch WALKED with the LORD.
In an excerpt from Jon Courson’s book, “A Pillar by day” John writes, “I believe the problem for most of us is that we are constantly trying to figure out who we are, what we should do, how we should minister, where we should go. Yet the more we think about how we’re doing, where we’re going, or what we’re thinking, and the more we talk about ourselves, make reference to ourselves, or draw attention to ourselves, the more misery we heap upon ourselves. Do you ever get tired of looking in the mirror, hearing your own voice, dealing with your own junk, taking your own pulse? I do.” (A Pillar by Day, Jan.18 ex. Pgs.21, 22)
That’s because we get caught up in agreeing or walking with ourselves and with our own goals in mind, our own destination in sight. And we are unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and unlikely to feel otherwise.
We weren’t ever meant to live this way; we were created to agree and walk intimate and personal in response to the Lord. Jon Courson also drives home this point by saying, “we are to lose our lives in the wonder of His glory (John 3:30) and in decreasing so that He might increase.”
“Because Adam sinned, and because the wages of sin is death, everyone in Adam’s family tree ends up the same way: dead. There is, however, one exception. There is one guy who never dies. After walking with God three hundred years, one day the Lord simply snatches, grabs, raptures Enoch. The wages of sin is still death. But, like Enoch, there will be a certain people who will not die: People who agree and respond to the Lord.
Maybe you agree with that music, or agree with that pretty poem, or that philosophy, or worldview. Maybe you’ve walked with the Lord for ten years; maybe you’ve been a believer for twenty years; but maybe you haven’t found the Lord to be all that personal, intimate, or fulfilling lately. Instead, maybe you’re discouraged, defeated, or depressed. Maybe you’ve read that happy are people whose God is the Lord (Psalm 144:15), and the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10), but you’re feeling anything but happy and joyful.” (A Pillar by Day, Jan.18 ex. Pgs.21, 22)
Why is this?
I believe it’s because you’re not doing what Enoch did. Look again at Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God.” Enoch agreed that God was who he said he was and his response was getting closer, getting intimate, getting personal with the Lord.
And what happened?
God turned to Enoch and said, “Hey pal, we’ve been walking together for a while now, and we’re closer to my place than yours, let’s go hang out at my house. And you’ll enjoy the blessings of being in my house.”
And Enoch was no more! He was now fulfilled, satisfied, and complete with God.
Do you want to know who you are?
Where you’re going?
Do you want to know joy, peace, strength, victory?
Walk with God, agree with him, acknowledge him and respond to him, and you’ll find all you’ve ever looked for and longed after in the Lord.
