“Enoch walked with God. . .” (Genesis 5:24).

I think you’d agree with me that there are a number of Bible characters about whom we know very little. Enoch is one such individual. His name appears in a limited fashion in the Bible. We have no record of great accomplishments on his behalf. He did not rule over a vast number of people, build great cities, conqueror the enemies of God, amass great wealth or any such thing. Yet there is something very instructive about what the Bible tells us about him. It says in very direct and simple language, “Enoch walked with God.” That phrase speaks to me. Let me explain what I mean.

I’ve come to see in my own life, as well as in others, that a very accurate barometer of faith is not what we do in the extraordinary and exceptional moments of life. What really defines a person is what he or she does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing exciting or tremendous going on. In other words, there is a sense in which faith is best measured in the “ordinary” as opposed to the “extraordinary.”  That observation is very convicting for all of us I believe, and for this reason.

Each of us craves after the extraordinary. We look for the exciting as opposed to the mundane. We’re wired to seek after the thrilling, not the humdrum. The thought of a dreary, boring, uninteresting existence makes us shudder. We’re always after something that’s more exciting than what we currently have. Such desires take a number of forms, even in the life of the Christian.

Yet we see nothing of that in Enoch. Unlike Moses who led the people out of Egypt or Joshua who conquered the land; unlike David who ruled Israel or Solomon, the wisest and richest man alive, Enoch had no such things in his life. Yet he had something far more important, something that catches God’s eye. Enoch had a consistent, unwavering, reliable, steady and constant walk with God. Enoch walked with God. In fact, Enoch’s walk with God was such that the latter part of the verse tells us that “God took him.” In other words, Enoch did not see death. God took him into eternity apart from death. Friends, that’s how much God values our walk with him.

Consider this thought for a moment. God may or may not call you to do extraordinary things as the world defines them. You may never command, build, write, preach, achieve, or become famous. In God’s way of working, that may be his best gift to you. But there is one thing all of us can do. By God’s grace, we can all walk with God as Enoch did.