What Does God Require Of Us?
Micah 6:1-8
God Pleads with Israel
1 Hear now what the LORD says:
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, O you mountains, the LORD’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For the LORD has a complaint against His people,
And He will contend with Israel.
3 “O My people, what have I done to you?
And how have I wearied you?
Testify against Me.
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know the righteousness of the LORD.”
6 With what shall I come before the LORD,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 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?
In this scriptural passage, God had a complaint against His
people.
The LORD said to Israel, “Get up, and plead your case in front of
the mountains. Let the hills hear your story.”
God then asked the mountains, and the foundations of the earth to
listen to His complaint against His people. And He would prove that
Israel was in the wrong.
The LORD said, “My people, did I do something wrong to you? Why have
you grown tired of Me? Tell Me.”
The LORD then reminded His people that He was the One who had
brought them out from the land of Egypt. He had delivered them from
slavery. He had sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to them.
He asked them to remember the evil plans of Balak king of Moab, to
remember what Balaam son of Beor told Balak, and also to remember
what happened from Acacia to Gilgal. In remembering what had
happened in the past, they would know the LORD did what was right and good for them!
But Israel said, “What can I bring with me when I come before the
LORD? What can I bring when I bow before God? Should I come before
the LORD with burnt offerings, with one year-old calves? Will
the LORD be pleased with 1,000 male sheep? Will He be pleased with
10,000 rivers of oil? Should I give my first child for the evils I
have done? Should I give my very own child for my sins?”
But the LORD had already told His people what was good, and what He required from them. Doing what was right to others,
showing kindness and love to others, and living humbly before God.
The people of Israel had placed their focus and attention mainly and
totally on
religious rites and rituals. But God was not
satisfied with burnt offerings, and even human sacrifices! Even if
they had offered their firstborn sons as sacrifices to God, that
would not be good enough!
God had already shown them what He required of them in the Law of
Moses. What was good in the sight of the LORD!
Israel should already have known the answer to their questions. But
they chose and continued to do what was right in their
own eyes! But God did not need or desire their
religious rites, traditions, sacrifices or offerings. Instead, the LORD sought
for justice, mercy and humility.
Psalm 51:16-17
16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would
give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
God was not pleased with sacrifices and burnt offerings. The true
sacrifice that God desired was a willingness to admit wrongdoings,
and a heart that was broken and sorry for the sins committed.
Without the change of heart, strict conformity to the laws of God
was nothing more than mere hypocrisy and false religiosity.
Today, in our churches, we have many people who are very religious.
These people are still doing things that they think are right in
their own eyes!
Some people
believe that songs about the birth of Christ are strictly to be sung only on Christmas day.
If it is so, then we can only sing about the cross only on the day Jesus
died, about His resurrection only on the day Jesus rose from the
death, and about His Holy Spirit only on Pentecost!
Some pious people observe their Sabbaths or attend Sunday services
by having all
kinds of programs and activities throughout the whole day. In doing
so, many of them do not find rest for their weary souls as they do
not come before God and lay down their heavy burdens. As a result, a lot of Christians
and pastors have become burnt out!
Many Christians do things without the heart factor, saying,
singing and praying words even though they do not really mean them.
They are just going through the right motions and moves, but missing
the mark and falling short badly. Reciting those Christian clichés
or phrases or verses have lost their original meanings and allure,
as they are being overused and misused extensively.
Religious rites and rituals, no matter how elaborate, detailed,
meticulously and precisely done in accordance to the Bible or church
traditions, can never
compensate for the lack of love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
The Greatest Gift
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but
have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging
cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith,
so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it
profits me nothing.
The greatest gift we offer to God is love! Yes, loving God and
others!
Even if we can speak in different languages of men or angels,
we are only noisy bells or deafening cymbals if we do not have love
Even if we have the gift of prophecy, understand all the secret
things of God, have all the spiritual knowledge, and have great
faith to move mountains, we are nothing if we do not have love!
Even if we give everything we have to feed the poor, and give our
bodies to be burned as sacrifices, we will gain nothing by doing
these things if we do not have love.
God requires us to do justly, show love and mercy to others, and walk
humbly before Him.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.’
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Obeying and doing these two commandments are what God requires of us.
If interested, please view this song:
Micah 6:8
Written on:
20 December 2023