1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
God’s commands to Abram are very difficult to swallow. If I were Abram I think my first reaction might have been to ask if God had been watching my life over the last ninety nine years. If God knew what I was really like then He would not tell me to be blameless, pure, without fault. There is no hiding from God. He knows the thoughts and intentions of our innermost being. We might be able to fool our friends, but we can’t fool God. We can throw a few smiles and christianeeze into our speech, but that does not remove the nature that still pulls on us. God commanded Abram to walk before Him. That means God’s eyes will always be looking my direction. No hiding from His gaze. No shielding from inspection. And yet God has known Abram for almost a hundred years and He still wants Abram to be the recipient of His blessing. The next couple of verses in the text reaffirm God’s promise to Abram. You see, when God makes a promise, He will keep it. Although Abram has lied about his wife and demonstrated a lack of trust in the Lord, God still expects Abram to be obedient and faithful. That is good news for us. When we fall, God wants us to get up and continue the journey. He does not drop us off at the next recycling center to be made into something else. He expects us to get up and continue walking before Him and to walk in a way that reflects His character. That is a tall order! But it also demonstrates God’s confidence in His power to change us, His perseverance to sustain us, and His belief in us as bearers of His image. Since he has that much love for us, we ought to walk before Him and be blameless. For the Jesus-follower these words have even more meaning. You see, in Jesus we are already blameless, pure and without fault in God’s eyes. When God looks toward us He sees the righteousness of Jesus instead of the sinfulness of us. When God scrutinizes our lives the obedience of Jesus overshadows our disobedience. Our weaknesses go unseen because of the strengths of Jesus. Knowing this means we can walk tall and confident before the Lord, always aware of our position before the Lord. We will always be dependent of the work of Jesus. We are accepted by Him. There is no need to grovel. We are invited to walk before Him and live lives worthy of His calling.
The Arnold Journey 