Discover The Word

Thursday, October 5, 2006, Part 2

“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” (Genesis 17:1).

IDEA: Walking is not the same as standing still.

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand what it means to walk before God.

In Genesis 17:1 God said to Abraham, “I am Almighty God: walk before Me and be blameless.”

Do you think that God was saying to Abraham, “Don’t run. Just take your time”?

This word walk is a metaphor.

I. What exactly are metaphors?

Here are metaphors that describe the Christian life:

The Christian life is pictured as a race, 1 Corinthians 9.

It is also described as a fight, 2 Timothy 4:7.

It is also described as a stand, Ephesians 6. What does the apostle Paul mean when he talks about “stand” there?

Another metaphor is that we are branches in a vine, John 15.

Another is that we are sheep, John 10.

What do we mean, then, when we say we are using a metaphor?

II. What are the dangers in interpreting metaphors?

We can miss the point of comparison.

We can misuse them in missing the point of comparison.

We can profit from them when we see what the comparison really involves.

III. What does it mean when it says that we are to “walk before God”?