In 1912, gospel
music publisher Dr. Adam Geibel asked composer C. Austin Miles to write a hymn
that would be "sympathetic in tone, breathing tenderness in every line;
one that would bring hope to the hopeless, rest for the weary, and downy
pillows to dying beds."
After experiencing a
vision of the biblical scene depicted in John 20 where Mary saw the Resurrected
Christ, Miles records: "I awakened in full light, gripping the Bible, with
muscles tense and nerves vibrating. Under the inspiration of this vision I
wrote as quickly as the words could be formed the poem exactly as it has since
appeared."
That poem/hymn, In the Garden, has blessed Christians ever
since. Here is the chorus: "And he walks with me, and he talks with me,
And he tells me I am his own; And the joy we share as we tarry there, none
other has ever known."
Can you imagine what
it must have been like for Enoch to experience the presence of the Eternal God?
Such a question presupposes that Enoch's "walk" with God was a
physical one, but most likely it was entirely of a spiritual nature and
experience. Yet, whether spiritual or physical or a combination of both,
Enoch's communion with God was real and vibrant.
And Enoch stands as
an eternal witness to the fact that you and I can please God by faith; you and
I can walk with God; and we who do so will escape death. What a comfort to know
that Christ will walk with us if we will invite him! Oh to know that he sympathizes
enough with us that he will walk with us! If we listen closely, we can hear his
soft, tender voice speaking as we walk along.
He walked to Calvary
for us! He walked out of the tomb for us! And by his Spirit he walks with us
daily, thus giving us hope of an eternal resurrection from this world.
"And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."
Dear Father, thank
you for walking with us. Assure us of your presence and empower our hope. I
pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be strong and
courageous today in your walk with God,
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