Micah 6:8 (NLT) No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy. From time to time I will hear a comment from a Christian and they say something like "I just wish I knew what God wants me to do." It can get frustrating at times when we have the desire to serve the Lord but just cannot get clarity on what to do. The above scripture is pretty clear on the base-level plans we should be about as believers. God spoke through the prophet Micah in some very clear and concise ways about living a life that follows God.
Here are the Cliff notes. Do right. Well now, we should have a pretty clear picture on doing right in that we now have the righteousness of God as a basis for our life. We should, but sometimes we try to figure this out on our own and that is where we get in trouble. Now we come back to the need for us to study God's Word and it will show through in how we live. Paul wrote these words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. There is a plethora of information on how to do good in God's eyes and the heart for righteousness given to us at the point of our spiritual birth desires to follow God's Word in this area. No excuses. We just know!!
Of course, keep in mind our attitude about what is right has a sinful slant to it and in Isaiah 64:6 God's word says We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind. This doing right in the right way has more of God involved than us and our attempts to be right fall miserably short. Don't despair though, because when God's righteousness kicks in we can see a whole new person or the new creation we are Christ Jesus. This new person will begin to do right out of love and that love leaves a permanent mark on the whole situation. Paul wrote some very poignant words about God's righteousness in us and in Romans 6:18 Paul wrote 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. So we are slaves to doing right because of Jesus. All of this Doing Right is prefaced with an attitude of love and in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul writes 1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. This one thing keeps us from becoming "puffed up and prideful" when doing right. Jesus covers everything if we will just look.
Love Mercy. This should be easy for people who have been shown so much mercy, but at times it isn't. We like to keep score. Just go to a sporting event where a score is not kept and you will walk away feeling empty and disappointed. When we argue with someone we want to win!! But winning isn't always winning. When we show mercy, God wins, not us, and that should be our intent. We have been shown God's mercy in order to show others mercy. The usual reaction of a fallen person is to not show mercy. King David said these words in 2 Samuel 24:14 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” God's mercy is "shown" here and David knew it to be true. David also knew that humans were not merciful at all. This should be different for new testament believers though because we have God's mercy FOREVER AND ALWAYS!! Our reaction to others should be filled with mercy because we live in that mercy every moment of every day. Like Batman said, "It's what I do!" Jesus said in Matthew 9:13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Strong truth!!
This is The Walk and we have all the qualifications to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. We can do this if we give control over to God in all situations and just learn to trust His Word and His righteousness and not ours, Paul wrote this to the church in Galatia in Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ.[e] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Our walk is a direct result of the righteousness of God and nothing else. So hold onto this great salvation that costs so much and live the life given to us by our Heavenly Father and you will actually live the life example given by God through the prophet Micah. Living the Christ-like life is doable, but only through who Jesus is in our lives and not of ourselves. And that is exactly how it should be, and you know that if you know Jesus. As Bo Jackson always said, "Just Do It!" That is THE WALK!!
The Pilgrimage Continues...
David Warren