Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Water Walkers out there!

Today has already been a great one at my house. My sister and I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv this morning while my dad fried a turkey and my step-mom cooked all the side items. How great is the food that we get to eat today without feeling bad about it? We're going over to my grandmother's house for supper later on and I have a friend from college coming to spend the night tonight so that we can go shopping first thing in the morning. It really is shaping up to be a wonderful Thanksgiving and I truly have a lot to be thankful for.

In all the craziness of getting to see family that you probably haven't seen in quite some time and eating so much food you think your pants might bust, it's easy to lose sight of what is most important. When i was doing my devotional earlier, a note I had written in my bible caught my eye. I'm sure that it probably comes from a sermon my dad has preached, which tells me that there is no telling how long that this note has been there. The weird thing is that it points to four verses in Genesis chapter 5, which is basically an account of the liniage from Adam to Noah. What could we possibly learn from a family tree? Well first let me share the verse and the note.

"When Enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."

The note: "Others lived longer but Enoch was known for walking with God."

What an amazing eulogy! Enoch was no where near being the longest living person, more than likely he didn't have the most influential children, and he wasn't some great king or emporer. He was simply known as having walked with God until the day he died. There was no doubt in anyone's mind where Enoch would go when he passed away. From these four verses we can tell that Enoch was pretty much bursting at the seams with God's love when he was alive.

That is the kind of life that we should aspire to be.

I've seen bumper stickers that say "Live your life so the preacher doesn't have to lie at the funeral." I've always liked those bumper stickers for the simple fact that they make it very clear that we should live an Enoch kind of life. When you die, make it impossible for the preacher not to say "He/She walked with God." There is no greater commendation.

Your Fellow Water Walker,
Ashlee

P.S. Here's a couple of verses that you might also find inspiration for living an Enoch life from:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
-Galations 2:20

"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."
-1 Thessalonians 4:17-18