“Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:21-24 NASB)
Enoch was one of only two people in the Bible to have never died. I love how matter-of-factly the Bible says, “. . . and he was not, for God took him.” Can you imagine being married, having children, and still having such a relationship with God, that He takes you to be with Him?
Well, God tells us that there is coming a day when a whole bunch of people that walk with Him are going to go to heaven – without seeing death. Listen to what the Apostle Paul states in his letter to the Corinthians:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Cor 15:51-52)
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:15-18)
We do not know what generation it will be that is blessed to be caught up in the air while still alive. Regardless of whether we are raised from the dead, or whether we are raised alive, how wonderful that our next conscious thought will be when the trumpet sounds. Do you look forward to the sounding of the trumpet, or do you live in dread of it? Knowing Jesus makes all the difference. His invitation to believe and accept Him as Lord of your life is only offered to the living. Make your fate certain while you still have breath in you, for no one is guaranteed tomorrow.
Blessings to you all!