"Walk before (God) faithfully and blamelessly." Bible verses like this scare the living daylights out of people. They think that the Bible demands too much of them, that the Christian life is a straight-jacket, and too restrictive, and that there is no freedom and no fun at all in the Christian life. I once trembled at the thought of being a full time Christian minister, thinking that I can't watch any more movies for the rest of my life. So I completely gave up the thought of ever being a full time pastor! My own guilt caused my own ascetic thinking. Let's look at this verse in the context of Abram's life.
Intro: (Genesis 17 is arguably the hinge pin of all ministry, for it is quoted 10 times in Hebrews, 8 times in Galatians, and 8 times in Romans.) God comes to Abram to renew his covenant 13 years after Abram committed an illegitimate act built upon illegitimate thinking because of the acceptance of illegitimate cultural norms that have given rise to an illegitimate relationship that produces an illegitimate son (Gen 16:1-16). All of this is to actually attempt to "do" God's will in accord with God's covenant. One might expect Gen 17:1 to begin with "You're fired. You messed up too royally." Instead, the calling of God on Abraham is freshly declared in Gen 17:1ff.
In Gen 17:1, God reveals himself in a new way as "God Almighty" (Hebrew El-Shaddai)--the 5th name for God so far in Genesis. God's names so far are:
