The Lord's Requirements

Micah 6:6-8 & Deut. 10:12-13 Often when people desire to know God's will for their lives, what they have in mind is something like a detailed road map with all the "where to turns". If we can write a check put it in the mail box and forget it, except at tax deduction time, we can usually handle that just fine. God is not looking for the mechanical, get the job done, forget about it mentality. God is into heart relationships, commitment and responsibility. Micah preached to the Southern kingdom about 120 years before Israel's exile to Babylon. A tight scrape with Assyria happened near the end of his ministry. The people of the time were a “every man for himself", "throw God a fish" kind of people not a lot different from us. God's answer through Micah was, I have already shown you what is good (refer to Deut. 10:12-13). He proceeds to give a short, to the point, three-part answer:
1. Act justly;
2. Love mercy;
3. Walk humbly with your God.
Each one of these involve listening, caring, involvement, patience, commitment, integrity, humility, time. It requires "hands on" and often that we scrap our own agenda. God wants His character to be developed in us. These are His qualities: justice and mercy. God in His justice and mercy spares us from what we deserve and gives us the grace that we couldn't begin to merit. His desire is that these character traits be developed in our lives. It involves our attitudes and the way we feel about things. We are supposed to love mercy, i.e., showing mercy turns us on. Sounds like all of us have work to do.