ESOCS Devotional 1 January 2025 – Walk Before Me, And Be Blameless
MEMORY VERSE: “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Genesis 17:1-2
TEXT: GENESIS 17:1-13
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
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Walk in my presence, perform your service before me, live out your life in 2025 and beyond in the knowledge that you are always in my sight and you exist for my pleasure and purposes, not your own (Rev. 4:11). Picture a General or a Head of state who has his military on parade in front of him, passing in review. This is an imperative in the Hebrew like several other passages we have studied: Gen. 12:1 – “GO from your country…”; Gen. 13:14 – “LIFT UP your eyes…”; Gen. 15:1 – “FEAR NOT…”; Gen. 15:5 – “LOOK toward heaven…”; Gen. 15:9 – “BRING me a heifer…” This new imperative, however, has more of an ethical connotation than the others. In Gen. 5:24, “Enoch walked WITH God…” and in Gen. 6:9, “Noah walked WITH God.”
To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze. To be aware of the presence of God is also to be acutely aware of His sovereignty. The uniform experience of the saints is to recognize that if God is God, then He is indeed sovereign. When Saul was confronted by the bright glory of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, his immediate question was, “Who are you, Lord?” He wasn’t sure who was speaking to him, but he knew that whoever it was, was certainly sovereign over him (Act 9:3-5).
Living under divine sovereignty involves more than a reluctant submission to sheer sovereignty that is motivated out of a fear of punishment. It involves recognizing that there is no higher goal than offering honour to God. Our lives are to be living sacrifices, oblations offered in a spirit of adoration and gratitude (Rom. 12:1). To live all of life Coram Deo [to live one’s entire life in God’s presence; that is, being conscious of God’s presence wherever you are, submitting to His authority and living to His glory] is to live a life of integrity. It is a life of wholeness that finds its unity and coherency in the majesty of God. A fragmented life is a life of disintegration. It is marked by inconsistency, disharmony, confusion, conflict, contradiction, and chaos.
Dearly beloved, it’s a call to live right with God this year and beyond.
CHALLENGES
- How conscious are that God is around you everywhere and you should be careful what you do?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord Jesus, help me to live Coram Deo . . . before the face of God per time. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Genesis 1:1-20; Luke 1:26-50; 2:21-40
ESOCS Devotional 1 January 2025
