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[FONT=Georgia, serif]Mic 6:6-8[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif](6)[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God? [/FONT] [FONT=Georgia, serif]Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif](7)[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif](8)[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]In 3 short points Micah lays out for us what is demanded of our God for us to have peace with him. We do not have to give all we have, nor more than we have. The Lord Himself provided the one sacrifice that covered all, so we only need to do that which he has always asked us, that is :[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]We are to do justly, that is, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]We need to love mercy, not to just show mercy, but to love it to the point you show everyone the same level of mercy as we want, or need to receive ourselves from the Lord.[/FONT]
The third point is that we need to walk humbly with God. Humility is the understanding there us nothing we can ever do in our own strength that will allow us to walk with God. It is only what He did on a hill, dying on that cross and rising again, 2000 years ago, for us that counts. For only through the grace and mercy of our Lord may we walk with Him. That humility that comes from the understanding that God is the source of everything and we are here only for His good will and pleasure.
John the Baptist said :
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Joh 3:30[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] He must increase, but I must decrease.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]31[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.[/FONT]Or as Abraham put it:
[FONT=Georgia, serif]Gen 18:27[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, serif] Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, serif]From Spurgeon's Sermon “Micah's Message for Today”:[/FONT]
“[FONT=Georgia, serif]True humility is thinking rightly of thyself, not meanly. When you have found out what you really are, you will be humble, for you are nothing to boast of. To be humble will make you safe. To be humble will make you happy. To be humble will make music in your heart when you go to bed. To be humble here will make you wake up in the likeness of your Master by-and-by.” (Spurgeon) [/FONT]
If we are to be effective in the roles that God has set out for us, fathers, husbands, men then these three ideas must be at the forefront of our actions.
