Genesis 5: I Want to be an Enoch

Let the "begats" begin.
Genesis 5 gives us a glimpse of the first family tree down through Noah's sons --11 generations, by my count -- and I am stunned anew at how easily we humans abandon the One who made us to live in His love and blessings.
But before I get to that important issue, I just have to comment on something much less important. Please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed that none of the men listed in Genesis 5 started "begetting" until they were more than 65 years old; some were "begetting," in fact, when they were way past 100.
That's weirdly impressive, but I honestly don't want to think about living six or seven hundred years, like those folks did. And I sure don't want to think about "begetting" at the age of 100 ... or 75 ... or even 56. Seriously, let's picture a group of 150-year-old soccer moms sitting in the bleachers. And now let's quickly erase that picture from our brains. Good grief, if I lived back then, I'd only be a relative toddler at my current age. Makes me tired to think about it.
Why did people live so much longer in those days? The explanation I've most often heard is this: the cascading ravages of the fall had not yet affected and infected creation to the extent they now do.
As amazing as our human bodies and the natural wonders of this earth still are, everything in our world is, nevertheless, a broken and distorted version of what God originally intended. I'm guessing that God probably doesn't look upon creation now and still declare, "It is very good," as He did in the beginning.
But neither is He in a panic about what He sees. After all, God has had the blueprints for the glorious new heaven and earth spread out before Him all along. He knows what's coming for those who believe and receive redemption through Jesus Christ, and it is indeed very good.
The other thing I see here in Genesis 5 is the sad, obvious reality that just 10 generations removed from that initial, perfect fellowship between God and man in the Garden of Eden, people who walk faithfully with God had obviously become the exception and not the rule.
The good news is that God's pleasure in those exceptions is apparent and important.  
Take Enoch, for example. We may not know much about this fellow, but we do know the most important thing: "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." (Genesis 5:24)
It's pure speculation, doubtlessly intended for effect and not for literal accuracy, but I heard a wonderful description of what might have transpired when Enoch was "taken" by God. Here's how it went:
"Maybe Enoch and God had walked so far together that God just turned to him one day and said, 'Enoch, we're a lot closer to My house than yours, so why don't you just come home with Me?'"
I like that. It may not have gone down just that way, but I like the picture it paints in my mind and the questions it makes me ponder:
"What was it about Enoch that made him so special to God?"
"How was Enoch's relationship with his Creator different from everybody else's?"
"What went wrong with those other guys listed in Genesis 5?"
Out of all the generations mentioned here, only Enoch and Noah (who is praised in the next chapter) apparently had noteworthy relationships with God.
Later on in this journey through God's Word, we'll read in 2 Chronicles 16:9 how God is always looking for hearts that are completely His so that--get this--He can strongly support those people.
That's the heart of God. He's looking for people to support and bless. He longs to walk with those who long to walk with Him.
I want to be one of those. I want to be an Enoch.