He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 (NKJV)
Do justly love mercy and walk humbly. We are saved by grace, through faith and not our works! But God does have an expectation for our lives. It concerns how we treat others.
DO JUSTLY
Live guarding and fighting for a sense of justice on behalf of others. Demonstrate justice in all your dealings with other people. As disciples of Jesus, acting justly means making fair decisions in our business and personal lives. God stamped His image on every human being and we acknowledge that truth when we treat all people with dignity.
His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and upright is He. Deuteronomy 32:4 (NKJV)
God is concerned about the protection of foreigners and slaves, of orphans and widows, anyone who is vulnerable and can be easily taken advantage of or wronged. Micah has already attacked injustice in the first three chapters of this book. He has denounced violent acts of physical abuse, confiscation of other people’s land and possessions, treating people inhumanely, and cheating other people for financial benefit. The call here is to do justice, not just be supportive of justice accomplished by other people. We ourselves are to be people that live our justice. It requires pro-activity on our part.
LOVE MERCY
Reach out to those in need and show God’s love for them. Biblical justice is never divorced from acts of love and mercy. Jesus tells us:
“Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.” Matthew 5:7 (KJV)
One day Jesus challenged the Pharisees saying:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! … you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Matthew 23:23 (NIV)
WALK HUMBLY
The Hebrew root of the word describes a lifestyle that is not proud, not self-willed and not arrogant. We are called to walk in submission to God and to His heart, His will and His ways. A sense of God’s presence, an acknowledgement of His love for us, a deep awareness of our need of Him is vital. Walk humbly with your God; not sometimes be humble, but always walk humbly with your God. D.L Moody noted this about Moses:
…he spent his first forty years being a somebody in Pharaoh’s palace; the next forty years being a nobody in the wilderness; the last forty years showing that a nobody can be somebody – with God.
Let’s meditate on the Micah mandate throughout the day, internalise its truth and express it in our lives.