Required

As I work my way through the chronological Bible this year, I found myself in Micah this morning. As I read of the disobedience of God's people and the impending judgment that is about to fall on them, the question asked in Micah 6 is, "what do we do now?" God's people become concerned because they realize that they might be in trouble and now want to offer the right sacrifices so that God won't do anything to them. In essence, they want to ask forgiveness so that they can avoid the consequences of their decisions.

God offers forgiveness, but He isn't looking for people who are sorry that they got caught. It isn't just about having them wiped away so that we can go back to what we want to do with our lives. It's the recognition that our decisions need to be filtered through the Holy Spirit so that we can find the lifestyle change that Micah 6:8 challenges us to have. He is looking to transform us into His likeness-not out of His own tremendous ego, but because He sees the big picture of life with Him and that it is better for us than the path of life that we most often choose for ourselves.

Micah 6:8 "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly

and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

If this becomes our life philosophy and the flavor of who we really are as Christ followers, I would wager that the world would view the church as caring, effective, powerful and genuine with all credit going to the King instead of our own individual efforts. We would truly become a people after God's own heart and our individual lives would be sweeter in the process.