It was because of his faith that Enoch was promoted to the eternal world without experiencing death. He disappeared from this world because God promoted him, and before that happened, his reputation was that “he pleased God”. And without faith it is impossible to please him. The man who approaches God must have faith in two things, first that God exists and secondly that it is worth a man’s while to try to find God.
Hebrews 11:5-6 (J.B. Phillips New Testament)
Have you ever wondered what sort of reputation you will have if someone was to describe your faith walk with God?
Enoch walks differently from his generation. He pursued God even though he lived in a time when people were bitter and antagonistic toward God and had no desire to fellowship with Him. As such, the Apostle Paul commended Enoch for his God-pleasing faith which flows from his exclusive and extraordinary prophetic intimacy with God.
Humility can only produce such radical intimacy. It demonstrates a person who is completely willing to seek after God and know Him, regardless of the cost, inconvenience, or distractions. And it was Enoch's enthusiastic eagerness that earned him the reputation of someone who pleased God. As a result of his friendship with God, Enoch became a prophet not only to his generation but also to ours. He even preached about Jesus' second coming prior to Noah's flood or our Lord's first coming (Jude 1:14-15).
It is crucial to understand that God is incredibly pleased with you because He is pleased with what Christ has done for you through His finished work. Yet, it pleases God even more when you respond by faith to the gospel revelation God gives you about His nature ("that God exists") and an invitation to all people ("it is worth a man's while to seek God"). And God promised that those who seek Him will find Him.
Faith is essentially a vibrant friendship with God in which you become fully convinced of God's ability to carry out what He has promised. Enoch did not taste death but was translated from earth to heaven by God because he was a friend of God. Similarly, Jesus promised that all who believe in Him will never die. Jesus refers to physical death as sleep because He is the Resurrection and Life of all God's saints. (Matthew 9:24; John 10:33).
Friendship with God goes beyond attending church, reading His Word, praying and serving. Though these things prepare you to do the works of God, the greater expression of this friendship is your partnership with God to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven.