Walking With God

“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” ESV Genesis 5:24

Back in the fall, I attended a Christian conference in Minneapolis. One of the speakers was an elderly gentleman named Jerry Bridges. I had seen his name on occasion and knew that he had written a book or two, but I had not become acquainted with his writing and had never heard him speak. Little did I know that I was in for a treat.

Now well into his seventies, Mr. Bridges is a very unassuming character and very humble in his speech. He walks with a slight stoop, but his gait is quick and his mind is sharp. His ministry is not pastoral, but what is termed “lay” ministry. He has toiled and persevered in that same ministry for over 50 years with an organization called The Navigators.

Mr. Bridges’ speech that day was titled: Four Essentials for Finishing Well. As the title indicates, his speech pointed out four essentials to living a Christian life to the very end. Now think with me for a moment. Here’s a guy, highly revered in Christian circles, well into his seventies who has been in ministry at the same place for over 50 years. He’s working every day at an age when most have entered retirement and now he’s about to speak to me about what it takes to “finish well;” he had my attention.

I’ll paraphrase his four points today. In the coming weeks I’ll expound on them some more. According to Mr. Bridges:

The first essential to finishing well is to have daily, focused communion with God. Mr. Bridges alluded to the fact that there is indeed a difference between communing with God and simply skimming a section of His word.

The second essential to finishing well is to have a daily appropriation of the gospel. Mr. Bridges noted specifically that the gospel of Jesus Christ was not just for lost people; believers need the gospel too! He pointed to the life of the Apostle Paul for whom the gospel was not just a past event, but a present reality.

The third essential Mr. Bridges articulated was that we must make a daily commitment to God as a living sacrifice. He appropriately noted that if we look at each day as a day as God’s servant, the noise of the day is less tiresome.

His final point was that to finish strong, we need a firm belief in God’s sovereignty. Living each day with the knowledge that God is all knowing, all powerful and perfect in every way keeps us from becoming bitter.

Enoch walked with God. I have no doubt that Mr. Bridges strives daily to walk with God. It should be the desire of each of us to do the same so that when we come to rest it can be said of us: ________ walked with God.