384. Walk in the Name
Micah 4:5 For all people will walk everyone in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
God promises that we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever. “Walking in the name” is how we live our daily lives, our regular behavior, and the things we say and do. Walking in the name is doing good works. A good work is something that is done by faith according to the will of God. A good work is obeying the Law, or keeping the Ten Commandments. Walking means living a morally better life than sinners do. We need to believe this promise, especially when it doesn’t seem to us that our life is improving. I still sin even though I do not want to. I do the things I don’t want to do and don’t do the things I want to do, because sin still dwells in me.
But there is another nature within the Christian: it is the nature of God, for God, the Holy Spirit, also dwells within. This is the promise: we will walk in the name of the Lord. The more we get into the Word and the more we hear the Gospel the more closely we walk in the name of the Lord. Believe it, because you don’t see it. Can you always tell the difference between believers and unbelievers? Are regular churchgoers better people than non-attenders? I think so, but I haven’t seen a scientific study that proves it so. We can’t always tell, but the Bible tells us so: God promises. Those who listen to Jesus are doing the “one thing needful.”
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are asking the Lord to make us better people, people who walk in the name of the Lord. We pray, “Hallowed be Thy name.” “May your name be holy in my heart and daily life by the Spirit and the Word through the Gospel.” Because we take the promise to heart we trust God to answer our prayers to change our ways. We take the name of God with us and we do all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord promises to make us better people. Believe the promise: you will walk in the name. “Walk in the name” is a promise, not a command. It is something to be believed, not done by fleshly effort.