Success and Longevity

As Cain’s heirs descended deeper into murder and revenge (Genesis 4:17-24), Seth’s line pointed toward a better hope (cf. Genesis 3:15).

Adam, who had tasted the abundant pleasures of Eden and the bitterness of the fall, watched as his family called “upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). Generation after generation survived the post-fall world, with each firstborn son nearly stretching their longevity into a millennium.

And yet, something was missing in Adam’s eyes. Though Seth’s line believed in the Lord, no one walked with God as he had done with Eve so long ago.

Until Enoch. The seventh-generation child reintroduced a different kind of worship into the family tree.

Before Enoch, it was said that each man merely “lived” out his years “and had other sons and daughters” (see, e.g., Genesis 4:7, 10, 13, 16).

But Enoch did more than live: he “walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:22).

God was so taken by Enoch’s Edenic spirit that he took him up and cut off his years. 

“Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:23-24)

By God’s decree, Enoch’s years on earth ended a third of the way through the thousand-year tenure of his ancestors.

His years may have been shorter than his fathers’, but in God’s eyes, he had far greater success.

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” (Hebrews 12:5)

Keeping in step with God is far more important than stretching out your years. When self-care and longevity become your heart’s priority, you have begun to chase after time at the cost of eternal life.

Three hundred years of walking with God is far more commendable than nine hundred years of merely “living.”

The question isn’t how many years you have but who you are within the years God has appointed for you. Are you merely living? Or are you walking with God? 

History abounds with centenarian curmudgeons and 30-year-old Enochs whom God took. Success isn’t measured in years. Success is nothing more and nothing less than following the Holy Spirit all the days of your life.

God will handle the years of the genealogy. As for you, abandon the meaningless meandering of self-focused sinners out for survival. Focus your soul on getting in step with the living God.