Through the lens of Man
Circumcision and the visit at Mamre
In Genesis 17, the Father says one sentence to Abraham that I think is the highest call ever given to a man.
“Walk before me, and be blameless” (Gen 17:1). The CSB renders it live in my presence and be blameless, which captures the spirit — but the Hebrew word is halak, walk, the same word used for Enoch in Genesis 5 and the Father in Genesis 3. The image is taking a walk with God, every day, all the way through.
Notice what it doesn’t say. It does not say fight before me. It does not say win before me. It does not say perform before me. It says walk. And it says blameless — which in the Hebrew means whole. Not flawless. Whole.
A man’s call from the Father is to walk a long, slow, steady walk in the right direction — and to be the same person in every room he enters. Whole. Not split between the public version and the private one.
Most of the men I know are not falling apart from one big sin. They are slowly being eroded by little splits — a public self that doesn’t match the private one, a Sunday self that doesn’t match the Monday one, a with-the-wife self that doesn’t match the with-the-buddies self. The Father is calling that home. Walk before me. Be one man, all the way through.
One small thing today: think of one place where there is a split between your public and private self — even a small one. Close it. Today. Even by an inch.