Micah 6 v 6 – 8
6“With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (ESV)
- What did the Lord require of Israel?
a. To love Justice
Look at our world. Look at the world we live in, look at the desolation. Look at what is happening to us. And instead of us looking around and trying to find out:
– Where does the virus come from?
– Who made it?
– Who was abusing it?
– Is it true?
– Is it real?
We can ask better questions than that, because whatever it is, we see the Lord in His providence, allowing us to be afflicted. We should ask:
– Do we each man speak the truth to our neighbour?
– Do we give judgment in our gates for truth and justice and peace?
– Do we think evil in our hearts against our neighbours and sometimes against our own family members?
– Do we love a false oath?
b. To love Mercy
c. To walk humbly with their God - What does the Lord require of us?
What does God require of us? The same as he required of Israel:
a. To love Justice
b. To love Mercy (kindness)
c. To walk humbly with our God
(i) Listen to God
(ii) Talk to God
(iii) Walk with God
Are you living a dedicated and obedient Christian life? Are you’re walking humbly with God? If not, you can do all the other things – you can buy lots of books and read one a week, you can underline your Bible in colour codes, you can go to all the church’s Bible studies. You can have three quiet times a day, but you are not doing what God requires of you. What God requires of you – as He did of Israel – is to love justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God, especially in these days that very few people understand.