Genesis 5:24 – Enoch walked with God.
THEME OF THE DAY. NO GREATER EPITAPH. I like going through cemeteries. My calling as a pastor takes me into them often but I go there regardless. It is an interesting and helpful place for me to visit for two reasons. First, it reminds me of the brevity of life. Unless Christ returns, I, too, will soon occupy a place in the ground in a cemetery. Walking through one awakens me to reality that I am going to die and such awareness should move me to live each day to its fullest as if it were my last. It could be. Another reason for visits to graveyards is I like reading the inscriptions on the headstones. They often say a lot about the life lived by the one buried below.
As I was strolling through a cemetery recently and reading the epitaphs on the stones, I thought, “I wonder what mine will read?” Then, I thought, “What would I like it to read”? And finally, my mind went to today’s scripture. There may be no better thing said in this life of us and written on our tombstones than the words “(our names) walked with God.”
When God brings down the curtain on our lives, the only thing which will matter is . . . “Did we walk with God?” The most important thing we leave our family won’t be a material inheritance, a reputation of being a good dad, mom, husband, or wife, a person who made people laugh, or an individual that was kind, fun, and generous. And yes, I have heard all those said at memorials and gravesites. And hopefully, those wonderful things may be said of us, but they are not the most important and lasting. The greatest statement our family members, our brothers and sisters, and the community at large may say of us is “(our names) walked with God.” And when someone walks through a cemetery and comes upon our grave, the most important words they may read of us is “(our names) walked with God.”
Is it true of us right now? If today were the day of our memorial and gravesite services were conducted, would the words “(our names) walked with God” be the dominant and common thread heard from people? And would our tombstone bear those word “(our names) walked with God?” It may be so, if a couple of things are in place in our lives and lived daily.
First to walk with God means we are on the same path in life. Jesus places us in the world to walk with Him to bear His name, and be salt and light for Him in a decaying culture. Are we daily driven to walk closely with, Him fulfilling this purpose in every relationship we have – family, neighbors, and at work? To walk with God is to walk with His purposes and His mission guiding our daily lives.
Next, to walk with God means we are heading toward the same goals. What are God’s goals for us? Conformity to Christ which eventually leads to being with Christ. When two people walk in harmony, they are heading in the same direction to achieve the same destination. Are these goals of the Lord gripping our heart and directing our walk with Him? Every day is a walk of conformity to Christ and is to be a deepening of our desire to be with Christ. And a trip to a cemetery will make this more real and tangible as we are confronted with our own mortality.
No greater epitaph may be placed on our gravestone – “(our names) walked with God” and it is possible only if we indeed walk with God. He is willing to take our hand and do so. The first step on the journey is ours.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You for giving me the privilege to walk with You.”
QUOTE: “We may only walk with the Lord if we are going the same way He is.”