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. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
Genesis 17:1-2 NKJV
When God told Abram to walk before Him blameless this didn’t mean that God didn’t expect Abram to never sin. It didn’t mean He expected Him to be perfect. It simply meant He expected Abram to be single-hearted. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 the greatest commandment is that we love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. It means we put God first in all we do.
In Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah sent a letter to the elders who had been taken captive. He told them what the LORD wanted them to do in their captivity. He tells them they will serve 70 years in captivity for their disobedience. But He reminds them of this in verse 11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
In verses 12-13, God tells them in this letter from Jeremiah, “Then you will call upon Me and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” They were being punished for their idolatry. They had not been wholly devoted to the Lord.
Romans 3:23 tells us we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. This means even these great men of faith in the Bible sinned. Abram sinned when he went to Egypt, not once but twice, and told the Pharaoh that his wife was his sister. She was his half-sister, so I guess you could say he told a half-truth. He did this because his wife was very beautiful, and he feared the Pharaoh would harm him to get his wife. Instead of trusting God for protection, he let his fear overtake his faith.
In Numbers 20:1-13 Moses, in his anger, struck the rock twice after God had told him to speak to the rock. His punishment was that after 40 years of dealing with the Israelites in the wilderness, he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land.
In Genesis 9, verses 20-29, Noah became intoxicated.
These men weren’t perfect, but God considered them blameless because they strived to please Him. They made mistakes along the way as we all do. There are many other men in the Bible that were great men of faith who sinned and made mistakes.
David was called a man after God’s own heart in 1 Samuel 13:14 and in Acts 13:22. In 2 Samuel 11, David lusted after Bathsheba and committed adultery and murder.
We are human beings. We will never be sinless. We can, however, strive to be blameless. We can wholly devote ourselves to our Lord and Savior. We can put Him first in all we do.
When we strive to be blameless, we can be shameless. Roman 8:1 tells us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 10:11 tells us that the Scripture says everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.
If you live your life to please Jesus, you will have no shame. The devil may try to shame you into dwelling on past sins but know that once you repent and are forgiven (1 John 1:9) God cleanses you from all unrighteousness. The devil tries to shame us into thinking we will never be good enough. But when God forgives us, He removes our sins as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12).
To be blameless we just need to put God first in all we do. We need to give Him all we have, and this means all our heart.
If you are striving to be blameless, you can be shameless. Surrender yourself to Christ. Love Him with all your heart and stand firm in your faith.
Have a great day!