There's several verses that stood out to me in today's reading in Micah. They aren't new. I've seen them before.... but it was good to be reminded.
In today’s Bible reading, as Israel recognizes their sins before God, the question is asked, "How shall I come before the Lord? With burnt offerings, with thousands of rams, or rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:6-8)
And the answer is given: "He hath shewed thee, O Man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Micah 6:8)
This is pretty simple it seems, but what does it mean practically? Here’s my non-scholarly summary:
- TO DO JUSTLY... to be doers of God’s law and not just hearers only, to treat others in a just and fair way, as we would want to be treated.
- TO LOVE MERCY... to value the precious mercy that was bestowed upon us by God, and to lavishly extend that grace and mercy to others in our daily living.
- TO WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD.... Not in arrogance, but in humility. You see, pride likes to walk alone. Pride thinks, "I've got this, and I don’t need anyone’s help. I’m strong.” That’s how I use to be when I was a kid when my parents would try to help me. “Don’t help me. I can do it by myself...” For a child growing and learning to do life, that may be one thing, but what a dangerous attitude to have spiritually as adults. The Bible says pride always comes before a fall. We have to stay humble... to remember even our best works of righteousness are only filthy rags to God. Without the blood of Christ, without His righteousness to cover us, we would have no hope. And our life must be a daily renewal of our marriage vows (to Christ), a daily conversion, a daily WALK with Jesus, daily taking that precious covering. We are not safe one day, one hour, one moment without Him. If we remember these three points, we have remembered enough.
I love this thought in Ministry of Healing:
"Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on the merits of the Saviour. By prayer, by the study of His word, by faith in His abiding presence, the weakest of human beings may live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold them by a hand that will never let go." (Ministry of Healing, p. 182)I also love the closing verses in Micah 7:18-19. "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."
Praise the Lord for the depths of the sea. We haven't always done justly. We haven't always loved mercy or acted in mercy, and we certainly haven't always walked humbly. But when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just. He pardons iniquity, He delights in mercy... and our sins He casts into the depths of the sea to be remembered no more. And I love the way Corrie Ten Boom put it, "I think the Lord puts up a sign there... No fishing allowed!"
God is good!
Tomorrow's Reading: Nahum 1-3 and Revelation 14
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