September 26

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity. — Ps 84:11 BSB

There are some who live very uprightly, in the fear of God, yet they find little comfort or lasting evidence that they are partakers of God’s grace now, or that they will share in Christ’s glory in the future. However, one thing they do have, even if they take no comfort from it now: they walk uprightly before God and others. No matter how experienced or blessed someone might be, they should never dismiss this evidence of grace in others. And if you walk uprightly from a genuine fear of God, here is a testimony from the Lord Himself—He has a special regard for you.

But what does it mean to "walk uprightly"? This is where true difficulty in faith begins. We can talk, preach, listen, and seem to believe, but it’s when we have to act on it, to live it out daily, that we really face the challenge. As Bunyan says, “The soul of religion is the practical part,” and it’s when we get to that "practical part" that we encounter the daily cross we must bear. Walking, living, and acting consistently with what we profess is the real test. To walk day after day, in all circumstances and temptations, uprightly and sincerely in the fear of God, knowing that our heart, words, and actions are always open before Him—that’s the steep hill of religion we struggle to climb.

It’s easy to talk, but to live out the Christian life daily, outwardly as well as inwardly, to be consistent before both God and man, before the church and the world—this is something human nature cannot do on its own. It’s not just in believing, but in living, that we need God’s power and grace to work in us and through us.