Covenant Sermon: Daily Walking with God 1/5/2025 by Nate Williamson

If you missed last week I shared with you about a focus for this new year on

living the Christian life to the fullest. Burnout emotionally and physically is a reality

for so many people. As real as this is, I believe God truly has a better plan for the

Christian walk. So much of our issue has to deal with our mindset and what we

believe our approach to life should be.

Working toward achievement and putting rest and our own health on the back burner doesn’t work and won’t work. And so we need to come to a place where we approach life one day at a time. I believe this is what Jesus was speaking to in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 (25-34)

25  “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have

enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and

your body more than clothing? 

26  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or

store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more

valuable to him than they are? 

27  Can all your worries add a single moment to your

life?

28  “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they

grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,  29  yet Solomon in all his glory was not

dressed as beautifully as they are.  30  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers

that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

Why do you have so little faith?

31  “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink?

What will we wear?’ 

32  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your

heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

33  Seek the Kingdom of God [ e ]  above all

else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34  “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s

trouble is enough for today.

Taking life one day at a time. Alcoholics Anonymous and other addiction

programs follow a similar pattern. Taking on the challenge in front of you one day at

time. Small victories lead to bigger victories. These programs work because they are

based on Biblical truths and the way that our creator God designed us and the world

we live in. So we need to rediscover these truths for ourselves.

Last week we looked at the Sabbath and the command to rest. We are created

and designed to need rest daily and God has a made a way, by his perfect design,

that we work every six days and rest the seventh. If we aren’t resting we are going

against God’s design for our life and robbing ourselves of a fuller life that God has

planned for us.

Today, I want to stay in the book of Genesis and talk about another key

component of discovering the full Christian life and that is simply: walking with God.

In Genesis three, Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) chose to go against God’s

design and disobey thus creating separation from God and allowing sin into the

world. Because this happens so early in creation and only in the third chapter of the

Bible, we have very little insight into what life with God was like before sin entered

in and wrecked everything.

But what we do know is that prior to sin, all of creation was perfect and

according to design and humanity was everything it was designed to be as well.

Right after Adam and Eve sin, Genesis 3:8 says, “ 8  When the cool evening breezes

were blowing, the man [ a ]  and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the

garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.”

So we see prior to sin, Adam and Eve would walk with God in the Garden.

This tells us of the closeness of the relationship they had with God. He didn’t create

them and leave them alone. Nor did he speak to them from a booming voice in the

distant clouds. God literally walked with Adam and Eve in close relational proximity.

I want you to keep this mind as we look at Enoch two chapters later. Seven

generations after Adam, Enoch is born and this is what the Bible has to say about

him in Genesis 5:21-24:

21  When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah.

22  After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

23  Enoch lived 365 years,  24  walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

This phrase “walking in close fellowship to God” is the same one used in

Genesis 3. And the result of this walking is that Enoch didn’t die, but was just taken

into glory one day. These four simple verses have perplexed centuries of humanity.

Later Elijah is taken into glory by chariots of fire rather than dying and it is possible

that Moses was just taken as well. So there is a possibility that three people in

human history have entered into eternity without dying.

What is it about this “walking” that we are missing?

The only other things we are told about Enoch is that he was a father to

multiple sons and daughters, was in his sixties when he had a specific son, and

walked this earth for 365 years. That isn’t a lot of detail to go by! But maybe that is

the point. Maybe we are told about Enoch’s life in four short verses because we are

over-thinking God’s design for our lives. Wasn’t this what Jesus was trying to say in

the Sermon on the Mount? Don’t waste time worrying, but focus on life one day at a

time? And what was the focus of Enoch’s life as he lived it one day at a time?

Walking in close fellowship with God.

This Hebrew word for walking is “hâlak” and it does mean “to walk.” But it

also means “to go along with” someone. And in order to go along with someone you

must be “in relationship, agreement and acceptance” with them. So when the Bible

says that Enoch ‘walked with God’ it didn’t necessarily mean a wandering of walking

physically, but a daily journey with God in obedience and agreement in a love

relationship.

So when it says that Enoch “walked with God” it meant an ongoing daily

journey that never ended. I believe that is the hint we are given even with his

lifespan. He died at 365 years and so we all learn in school that there are 365 days in

a year. God is giving us a huge hint that this man, Enoch, who never tasted death

never paused or stopped this daily walk with God. Walking with God was his life.

This is hard to do in a world full of other desires and distractions. But note

that Enoch wasn’t some monk in a monastery or a hermit in the woods living by

himself. He had a wife and a large family.

Within 600 years of his death the whole world would be destroyed by the Flood. The world was a wicked and awful place full of sin during Enoch’s lifespan. In fact, the book of Jude tells us that Enoch was very vocal about sin and speaking the truth in the time period in which he existed.

14  Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these

people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy

ones 

15  to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person

of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners

have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15)

Walking with God does not mean isolation from the wicked world we live in,

but being a vocal participant in trying to get others to walk with us as we walked

with God. Enoch lived with the reality of an eternal perspective because of his daily,

close relationship with God. He saw the world clearly where everyone else struggled

to clear their blurry eyes.

Hebrews 11 relates the same truths about Enoch:

5  It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he

disappeared, because God took him.” [a]  For before he was taken up, he was known as

a person who pleased God. 

6  And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone

who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those

who sincerely seek him.”

The phrase ‘pleasing God’ creates the word picture of a child living up to the

standard of their parent in behavior and attitude. As children love to please their

parents so parents are delighted to bless their children when they listen and obey in

love. And so we get this reality that Enoch’s walk with God was a desire for God

more than anything else. God was his life. He was his daily and primary pursuit.

This is a hard thing to start because we are all born thinking only of

ourselves first.

I’m tired. I’m hungry. I want. I need. Give me. Give me. Give me. But

the greatest key to life given us by Enoch is that God is the answer to all of our

desires. A daily pursuit of God is all we need to satisfy our existence.

The word for ‘walk’ can also mean “to flow.” I believe this is the stage two of

walking with God. When you do something long enough we talk about “going with

the flow.” It becomes as natural as water flowing from a height and surrendering to

gravity. Walking in relationship with God can become our daily flow.

And ultimately the same term ‘walk” can be used to describe death. It is used

in Psalm 39:13, “Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and

am no more.” The word depart in the Hebrew is the same word for walk: halak. So

some may see it as death is “walking away from earthly life.” But as we see in Enoch

it is quite different his daily ‘walk’ with God was the same daily even after he

entered into eternity.

1) So this walking with Jesus is at first a conscious choice to leave your own

solitary walk and walk with Jesus letting him lead you as you walk next to him daily.

2) As you do it consistently it becomes a flow as water in a stream. As nature as

breathing.

3) And finally, it is a walk from this earthly life into an eternal stepping

with God. And isn’t that what eternity in heaven is? A daily abiding with God and

knowing him for the rest of our existence?

You see Enoch understood there was nothing greater or more valuable than

knowing God. He had all the answers. God has all the plans. God has designed our

life. Who better to walk through life with?

So in closing, let me give you some pointers on how to walk with God daily:

1. Begin your day talking with God.

What do I mean by this? Simply, ‘Good morning God. Thank you for giving me

another day. Tell me who I am today and show me what I am to do and

experience. Show me what my eyes won’t naturally see.’

2. Search out his voice in ways that he has spoken.

This means read the Bible. We call it God’s Word for a reason. Read it in the

morning. Think about his Words throughout your day. Read it more than

once a day. Read devotionals or listen to sermons that can give you greater

insight into God’s Word. The key is perspective. Don’t read it as a distant and

dead school book, but as a love letter written with daily messages for you.

3. Continue your discussion with God throughout the day.

Prayer doesn’t have to be head down and eyes closed. It can be throughout

the day and in the heart and mind. Thank God for the blessings as they

happen. Pray for strength in the difficult moments. It is a daily discussion just

as if you were on an all day road trip with a good friend.

4. Strive to please Jesus throughout the day.

As you grow to know who God is and what he desires, you live in accordance

with that. You listen to the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit that points out

wrong words or actions that you may take in a given day. He refines your

desires to be fulfilled with good things rather than sinful temptations.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 gives us a pattern for what a daily walk with God

looks like:

16  Always be joyful. 

17  Never stop praying. 

18  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this

is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Walking with God. That is what we are called to do daily. Period. Enoch’s life

has no list of accomplishments, philanthropic work, or athletic prowess. He

has four verses that lead to a life of fulfillment that doesn’t end in death. We

are over thinking life and missing out on the simplicity of what God desires.

As Jesus told his disciples when he called them “follow me.” That is it. Go

where God goes. Stay where he stays. Rest when he calls you to rest. The key

is spending every waking hour aware and pursuing the loving presence of

your heavenly Father. And that is what so many of us are lacking as we

desire more out of life.