Do you know what God wants from you? Have you thought about this? Have you asked Him what He wants from you? How do you know what He wants? Do you want to know? Actually it’s quite easy to find out… what’s important to God? That’s what He wants. Too simple?
When you go to the handbook (Bible), even a cursory read gives you the understanding that God is love. Love is not just a concept, a philosophy it’s a mindset, a lifestyle. From beginning to end one can see that God operates in love and expects us to operate from the same standard. You see that the love of God is a totality experience: heart, soul, strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded that it was love – noting that love of God is the first and great commandment and loving one’s neighbor is the second (Matthew 22:37-39). So this then is the beginning of what God wants from you. Love is an action, it is not just words so you need to know how you love in practice.
Micah 6:8 delineates what the Lord requires: do justly, love mercy, walk humbly. In another scripture we are told that He loves mercy more than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). Obviously mercy is an important component in our fulfilling His requirements, demonstrating love – what He wants from us.
I would argue that mercy is not merely an intellectual affirmation, mercy is an important act we can extend to one another. A working definition is: kindness. Quite simple but huge in implication. Lovingkindness, unfailing love, tenderness, faithfulness are other descriptive definitions of mercy. To me, it seems that mercy is an extension of love in action.
What God wants… He wants us to love, to be just, to be merciful, and to walk humbly with Him.
