Walk Right!

Walk Right!

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]? MICAH 6:8 AMP

When you read today's extract in context, you see God laying a charge against his people Israel. He had done so much for them and then demanded obedience and faithfulness from them, but like people who are well fed and satisfied, they threw away God's restraints and were doing as they pleased. First lesson: when all seems to be well with you, be very careful. God wants his provision and grace to make us more dependent on Him, not careless, carefree or independent of Him.

God never leaves us in doubt as to what His requirements for our lives are. There are so many commandments but let's focus on what today's extract says: to be just, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with Him. For any man to be pleasing to God, your first responsibility is to Him. If you do not get the vertical relationship with God right, it does not matter how well you nurture the horizontal human relationships. Today's world focuses on the horizontal; there are books and authorities on the matter, yet the world is farther apart than it has ever been. You get into the public places and you see a mass of people, yet there are no connections. Unless and until God is given his righful place, nothing is guaranteed to work.

All the attributes listed above: being just, love, kindness and humility are attributes of the presence of God in a life. It does not matter how moralistically upright you are; the complete package is found only in union with Christ. The world will offer you standards, but God has only one standard, and that is expressed in and through Christ. There is nothing in me that makes me earn God's approval or grace, and it is the finished work of Christ that qualifies me to stand before God and show forth his grace, power and mercy to the world.

The world will not take notice of the usual; only the unusual and unpredictable will speak. Where the world expects revenge, it will always notice love. Where the world expects hurt for hurt, it will always notice kindness. Where the world expects pride in achievements and possessions and all it sees is a heart  completely sold out to God, then the world takes notice. Where do you fall? What are your priorities? Remember, God has made it clear what he demands of you; He will not force himself on me, but the benefits of obedience and cooperation with God will last me for eternity. His time of favour is here.