"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 John 4)

The phrase "walk before me" is used six times in the Old Testament. Here in our text is the foundational setting. God’s standard for us does not waver. "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16).

Eli the High Priest was confronted by a "man of God" because Eli did not "walk before" the Lord. The prophet warned that those who honor God, He will honor, and those who despise God, He will curse (1 Samuel 2:30). God expects those who are His to see holiness as a priceless lifestyle to embrace.

King David was promised a ruling line if his children would "walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul" (1 Kings 2:4). God began that promise with the command "Take heed to |your| way." If we are to walk in truth, then we must guard our lifestyle carefully and continuously. Solomon instructed his son, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

John opened his first letter by admonishing us: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth" (1 John 1:6). In his third letter, John contrasted the life of Diotrephes and Demetrius, both of whom were active in the church and to whom John was writing. Diotrephes sought "preeminenance" and spread "malicious words" (3 John 9-10). Demetrius, on the other hand, "hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself" (3 John 12).

Moses summarized this concept most succinctly: "Love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee" (Deuteronomy 30:16). HMM III