In Genesis 17:1, the Lord said to Abram: “Walk before Me, and be blameless.” God spoke of Noah in the same way in Genesis 6:8-9: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” These verses teach us what the Lord wants for His people. He wants for us, for our sake, to walk, or live in fellowship, with Him. In order to maintain that relationship, and to lead others to do the same, we must be blameless.

We know from scripture that man is not capable of blamelessness, so how can God require it of us? He requires it of us because He, and only He, can enable us to live blamelessly. Consider Daniel. When the jealous governors in Daniel 6 wanted to catch Daniel in some wrongdoing, so they could have him removed from office, the Bible says: “they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him” (Daniel 6:4). Daniel was not the kind of Christian who tolerated his own sin. Instead, he knew the Lord whom he trusted, and wanted to walk closely with Him.

Too many Christians have surrendered to the sinful nature, or what the Bible calls the flesh. Many of us would have presented easy targets for those governors, had we been in Daniel’s place.

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” -1 Thessalonians 5:4-8