“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.
What kind of sacrifice do you give? Micah, a prophet in Israel around the time of Isaiah, wrote that the animal sacrifices and other offerings of the people were not what God was looking for. God’s instructions were simple, yet profound: “To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” God, according to Micah, was looking for personal, human actions to be sacrificial and in service to others and to God. As Jesus said, we are to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbor no matter who they might be. Paul stated that we are to present our bodies to God as “living sacrifices.” We are, in Micah’s words, to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.”
These actions are intentional decisions that I make each day. I can choose to do things according to my own wants and desires – my own self interest – or I can choose to live life daily according to God’s desires. Simple things, such as being “interrupted” while I am working, can be irritations or opportunities, depending on the choice of the focus of my heart. Is it on serving me, or is it on serving God? Ordinary life decisions become basic, foundational choices that I make throughout each day. How will you choose? As for me, as Micah states, I choose to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God” as much as I can.
Questions to consider: What kind of sacrifice do you give? What does it mean for you to, “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?” How does this affect your decisions and your choices each day?
Prayer: Father, it is my desire to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly” before You. I know my natural inclination to go my own way. Please help me to intentionally choose to follow Your ways in all of my ordinary days. Amen.
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