Well-Pleasing to God

Season 2 Episode 7 -- What insights can we learn about our relationship with God from the verse in Genesis that states that "Enoch walked with God?"  And what additional insights does the New Testament offer us about Enoch?  Listen and find out!

"Reflect on This" is a once-weekly, short devotional podcast. In these devotionals, I share the things I am learning about the ways and nature of God, in what I hope are practical and meaningful ways.
 
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Resources that inspired some episodes:

"The Pleasure of His Company" by Dutch Sheets

 “Dream Small:  The Secret Power of the Ordinary Christian Life” by Seth Lewis
 
 Blog by Seth Lewis:  https://sethlewis.ie/

“The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts” by Gary Chapman

"The Lies We Believe: Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life" by Dr. Chris Thurman

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Transcript

Recently, as I have continued reading “The Pleasure of His Company,” an excellent book by Dutch Sheets, one of the chapters led me to reflect upon this familiar verse:

Genesis 5:24 NASB  Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Sheets points out that the Hebrew word translated as “walked” implies a shared friendship or relationship.  That connotation is indeed captured in several Bible translations:

Genesis 5:24 AMP  And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him]. 

Genesis 5:24 ISV   [Enoch lived…] communing with God—and then he was there no more, because God had taken him.

Genesis 5:24 NLT  [Enoch lived…] walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

Genesis 5:24 TPT Enoch and God walked together as intimate friends; then God took him to himself, and he was seen no more.

Sheets puts it this way:

Enoch followed after God and His ways, walking with Him on the pathway of his life. The meaning is quite simple: He lived life with God. Not satisfied with the mundane existence of life without God, Enoch decided to prioritize and enjoy the pleasure of His company. 

Then Sheets points out another key principle from this verse:

Somehow [Enoch knew that] walking with God was a decision he had to make—not God. The Scriptures don’t say “God walked with Enoch,” although that obviously occurred as they spent time together. No, the wording is important and the point is clear: “Enoch walked with God.”

This concept that believers can chose to enjoy the presence of God’s company seems to be confirmed in several New Testament verses:

James 4:7-8a NASB  Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  (8)  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

Hebrews 7:25 NASB  Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

The New Testament offers us some additional insights on the relationship between Enoch and God, especially if we dig a little into the richness of one of the key Greek words.  Sheets writes:

The Scriptures do tell us how the Lord felt about this relationship... 

“[Enoch] obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Hebrews 11:5, NASB). 

“Pleasing” is from the Greek word eu-ar-ES-tos. “Well-pleasing” would be a more accurate translation; the prefix eu means “well” or “good,” and arestos means “to please”…  So, Enoch was more than pleasing to God, he was well-pleasing.

Don’t be deceived into thinking that only a few spiritual elites like Enoch could possibly have such a relationship with the Lord. Paul said to the Corinthians, 

“Therefore we also have as our ambition . . . to be pleasing [literally, well-pleasing (euarestos)] to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9 NASB). 

A literal rendering of the latter part of Hebrews 12:28 (NASB) would read, 

“Let us show gratitude, by which we can offer to God an acceptable [literally well-pleasing (euarestos)] worship with reverence and awe.” 

Sheets then leads us to a wonderful application:

It absolutely is possible to become a pleasure to Father God. When this is understood, it transforms our lives. We step into a high calling, beginning a love affair with the One who made us in His own image and likeness. God created us as His family, with the capability of truly knowing and understanding Him. When this is understood, life becomes an exciting and glorious journey upward, [not something to merely endure until we get to heaven.]  We have a destiny to fulfill, not an existence to waste.

Wow!  Let me repeat this powerful application, to be sure you caught it:  Not only is it possible for us to experience the pleasure of God’s company, but it is absolutely possible for us to be a pleasure to Him!  In fact, it is God’s design for both us and Him to experience mutual pleasure in the presence of each other’s company!

Will you join me in choosing to walk with God each day in His company, in well-pleasing worship to Him?

Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”