What does God require of you, oh man?
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (NIV) Micah 6:8
The bible as I have come to understand was written for our own good. Nothing in it profits God. Choosing to be a Christian and being a Christian is a decision that profits the decider and never God. However, God requires certain things from Christians, even though these requirements are for our own good. There are so many important things God requires from us, but for this devotion, we shall dwell on Micah 6:8.
God requires that we act justly. To act justly is to act fairly or impartially. It is normal as humans to support other people we are related to or like, even if they are wrong or undeserving. For example, parents may support their favourite child against the other siblings even if this favourite child clearly has a bad case. In such situations, what usually escapes our minds are the effects of the act of unfairness or partiality on the victim. Beloved, these effects may range from the development of hatred within the person or low productivity of the person in whatever he/she is engaged in. Other examples of an unfair act may come with dire consequences. In light of this, God requires Christians to act justly at all times regardless of the setbacks. This requirement is however not a pushover, irrespective of your maturity in Christ. In my case, I ask myself a few questions to help me align my actions to the will of God. For example, anytime I need to act, I silently ask myself if I am acting justly if I am not and I do not find a reason to stop myself, I then ask myself, how will I feel if someone treats me unfairly. These questions help me to do my best in the quest to act justly or fairly towards all and I believe they can be helpful to you too. Beloved, if we are able to relinquish our wrong decision and end up acting justly at all times, it will set us apart from the world. Have you thought of how the world would have been if everyone acted justly?
Secondly, we are to love mercy. We are expected to show kindness and have a forgiving heart. The world needs Christians to show the way when it comes to kindness and forgiveness. Oh, how peaceful and nice will the world be if all humans have a compassionate heart? Our world will know no violence. Unfortunately, our world is chaotic because many including Christians do not love mercy. How difficult is it, to love mercy, just for our own good?
Lastly, we are to walk humbly with God. We are to walk respectfully and in deference to God. If we respect God, we will make all effort to obey all He asks of us. We will have no excuse to do the contrary. Walking humbly with God crowns it all. That is the sure way to do what He says. We can only walk humbly with God if we know what He expects of us through His word. This means we must study and learn His word and then be committed to doing exactly what the word says. What God expects of us is for our own benefit so why are we reluctant to do something that benefits us? May God help us!