THE CHILDREN'S UPLOOK

A man whose name appears in chapter 5 of Genesis could have said, in the later centuries of his life, that his great-grandfather had never been born and his great-grandson had never died! This is not only interesting but also instructive.

Cainan no doubt learned from Adam that God had created him, Adam, as quite different from other creatures and as a full-grown man. He had never known childhood and it must have seemed strange to him to see plants, trees and then children growing up. But, great as Adam was, he disobeyed his Creator and sin came into this world through the serpent. Satan now tries to make us believe that this is just a fable, so if you are taught that at school you must remember that God's word is truth.

Cainan's great-grandson was Enoch who lived as many years as there are days in an ordinary year. Scripture says that he "walked with God", which means that he pleased his Creator in his daily life. Then God took him to Himself and by faith he knew even long before Adam died that God was able to set death completely aside.

There are at least two simple lessons to be learned from the history of Enoch whose name probably means 'teaching'. Firstly, it is possible for us to give God our company just as we might go with a friend for a walk. Then also we know that, without a trace of death's power, we may be taken at any moment to be "always with the Lord".

Whether, as we expect, we shall be translated as Enoch was, or whether we should die, we know that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Do you learn more each day what a happy thing it is to be the Lord's?

J.C.Evershed