“…And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love
mercy, And to walk humbly with your God…”
Actually this scripture (Micah 6:8) is stated as a question. It is the voice of God speaking to His people as He pleads with Israel to return to Him. According to one source, God was looking for an ethical response from His Old Covenant people – “…Remain honest in all you do, cherish compassionate faithfulness, and commit yourself to live in submission to your God.” (Spirit-filled NKJV)
So what does this have to do with you, now… living in the 21st century? Absolutely everything! Look around you and don’t you see the same conditions existing in today’s society with the same need for repentance and restoration? What would happen, regardless of how society appears to be, if each of us would act on these three charges? Could each of us change the world we live in by being and doing justly, mercifully, walking with our God? And no, I don’t mean becoming a doormat to others – nowhere is that a condition. To stand boldly for these three components takes courage, takes a no compromise attitude, and takes an enormous amount of love.
Required is a strong word, brooking no misunderstanding. You may not like or agree with what’s required, but you can’t say you don’t know or understand. When you look at God’s words about what’s required – where’s the problem? Why is this so very difficult? Is it because we think we know best? Is it because we think no one else would follow the requirements? The answer is probably ‘yes’ to both. We humans think we can do or accomplish everything on our own strength or with others helping us. When it comes to eternal issues – we are rarely in the position of acting justly, mercifully, and with the Lord apart from a relationship with Him.
We are as stiff-necked a nation as the Old Testament nations ever thought about being. We continue to rely on what we see, think, feel, ‘know’, etc. Too often we eliminate what’s required if it gets in the way of accomplishing whatever it is we want to accomplish. I believe that part of the reality is that we truly cannot do what is required apart from a relationship with the Lord. Realizing that this is a ‘given’, why do we continue to try? What is it that we believe we can do that will endure apart from a relationship? Then again, it could be argued that long-term is not in our thinking – it’s a me and mine now, thinking.
When you take a look at the three requirements, they really aren’t onerous. They are complete. But, they can’t be accomplished apart from the Lord’s involvement with us. They take us to a new and higher dimension of relationship with the Lord. They become our standard of conduct – honesty, compassion faithfulness, and submission to the Lord. What stops us from accepting these requirements in our lives?
