Faithfulness, the Legacy

When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah. After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.
Genesis 5:21-24 NLT

This year, I've decided to read the Bible through using the Daily Audio Bible app, featuring Brian Hardin. He's been doing it for about a decade and a half, and I enjoy hearing the different English versions used throughout the year. (If you're interested, you can Google 'Daily Audio Bible' or you can find a link to it on BibleGateway.com.) The basic daily reading premise is some from the Old Testament, some from the New, from the Psalms and Proverbs. 

I said all that to say...Today's reading included Genesis 5 where Enoch was taken away by God. He and Elijah were the only two men mentioned in Scripture who did not die before leaving this earth. We know a lot about Elijah, but there's not a lot of information about Enoch in Scripture. He's mentioned in Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter, and again in Jude. There is history apart from Scripture to be found about him, but the Truth of the matter is, Enoch was faithful to God, he was truthful, and he was obedient. So much so that he did not taste death. 

Enoch is Noah's great-grandfather, and although those generations lived hundreds of years, Enoch was taken from this world before Noah was born. But you have to think about this. Enoch's faithfulness to God so influenced his son and his grandson that when Noah was born, he, too, was found faithful to God - in a time when no one else was. (And Enoch had already been gone almost 70 years by then.) In fact, you know the story - Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives were the only humans God saved from the flood. Why? Because of Noah's faithfulness to God. The legacy of faithfulness that had been passed down.

What legacy are we leaving for those who come after us? Not just offspring, but ALL those who God has placed within our sphere of influence - be they neighbor, co-worker, or the clerk at the store we see every week... Let it be the only one that matters - that of faithfulness to our God!

Prayer:

Father,
          We pray the words of the song You gave Steve Green, "After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone, and our children sift through all we've left behind, may the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.  Father, may all who come behind us find us faithful... May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe." In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen