To Be Blameless

To be blameless!

Genesis 17:1”When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”

Though I titled this message, ‘to be blameless,’ yet I would like to talk about His love in the beginning, because our commitment to live for Him and live holy for Him should be birthed from our knowledge of His love for you. Because He loved you first! He gave His all for you!

Abraham goofed up, sinned, ran away from God, struggled with faith, had a relationship with Hagar, gave birth to Ishmael….. YET, what follows is amazing! God showed up to Abraham! I read the scriptures with tears in my eyes! One day I heard (okay, okay eavesdropping is wrong, I agree!) my teenage daughter tell her friend: ”even though I fight with my mom and scream, yet she is the first one to come and speak with me, I love her for that!” God’s love is several tons more vast! I love you Jesus!

God calls out Abraham to leave his folks, town and follow Him; which he does dutifully, however, when there was a delay in the fulfillment of God’s promise, Abraham strays away from the right path. For 13 years Abraham did not hear from God! Those must have been agonizing years for Abraham! During my initial days of salvation, even if I sensed the presence of God leave me a bit, I would run inside closed doors and say: ’sorry, sorry…please, don’t leave me Lord!’ Such was the childish, sweet fellowship that I experienced-and still experiencing!

God told Abraham: "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. ”Further the next scripture says: ‘And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Here we see a command and blessing being beautifully juxtaposed by God! God said in simple words:” you be blameless, then I would bless you-not sparingly-but exceedingly! God approached a sinner and showed Him the way to be a winner! Is there anybody like Him? None! Give Him a shout of praise! He deserves it! I repeat exceedingly!

Now, give an attentive ear to what comes after this! Having talked about His bountiful love, we need to know of His commandments too! We cannot live recklessly and still expect God to bless us. Can we? His words are clear: be blameless! Bring your life under the microscope to unravel the mess, dirt and deep hidden sins that is buried in the dark crevices. The heavenly torch would see it all!

When children fair poorly in their exams, their immediate answer to their parents would be: ‘the correction was strict’ or ‘that teacher does not like me,’ or “I was sick on that day’ never would they accept their mistakes. Do we not do something similar with God? Don’t we run, hide, and refuse to accept that we are sinners? Don’t we want to refuse to accept the blame for our actions? We give excuses:’ Lord, I am not the only one doing it, the whole world is doing it!’ I am talking to someone out there!

How lovely would it be to boldly confess like Paul: “You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:10). That's a staggering statement indeed - to call on God as a witness to your holiness! Yet, without flinching, Paul boasted! I want to quote another confession of Paul: ’For I wish that all men were even as I myself.’ (1 Cor 7:7)Only a man living an upright life can say such things! How long would we keep confessing: I am a sinner, I am a worm, I am an insect, I am worthless, I am no good? Answer me! One hundred percent holiness seems to be farfetched for some Christians! LET THAT BE YOUR GOAL! When would we triumphantly say like Paul, “Imitate me?”

It does not come without determination, though! If you are lackadaisical in your attitude towards God, then you would remain so, but if you strive hard to grow in Christ, then He would help you do so.

Today, if I talk about holiness, integrity and quote my life, people brandish their knives to come and attack me and call me a ‘religious nut.’ If I point out ‘mistakes’ and tell them the consequences, they say ‘I am condemning!’ My advices dished out every day, might sound mundane, repetitive and clichéd, nevertheless, you need to hear them to escape the torment of hell. In order to get to heaven, we need to be BLAMELESS! We may go to church, read the Bible, attend spiritual conferences, but if we do not live a 100 percent blameless life, then we may not have a safe landing in heaven! May be you don’t care to think of heaven or hell now, because you are busy playing with your worldly toys; yet the flames and worms in hell are real! Preachers yell, not because they hate you, but because they want to save you from hell.