Desire What God Desires

Micah 6:8 – What does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (NIV 1978)

My Musing – Many envision God as He seems to be depicted in the Old Testament as a God of wrath and judgment. In contrast,
others tend to have an impression of God from the New Testament as one of compassion and grace. But God does not have a personality disorder nor has His nature changed over time. God has always loved and continues to love mercy. At the same time, His Holy nature demands that He act with justice. These qualities are not contradictory. They are, in fact, quite compatible. Reconciling His love of mercy and His Holiness that demands justice is the grace bought and paid for by the sacrifice of His Son. Because of this, God is able to pardon and forgive the repentant sinner. But when the heart is not penitent, God will, in Holy wrath, tread sin underfoot in judgment.

Living a Godly life should be the goal of every Christian. It is certainly something that God desires for us. Being Godly means aligning our desires with His, which is to love mercy, act justly and walk humbly. Not simply mercy, justice and humility. Those are mere nouns. God calls us to love mercy, to act justly and to walk humbly. Our mercy, justice and humility involve action. These actions saw their ultimate fulfillment with Jesus death, burial and resurrection. He humbly walked that path to the cross. His act of dying on the cross paid the penalty for our sins and satisfied what justice required. His resurrection demonstrated God’s loving mercy towards us in accepting the sacrifice Jesus made.

My Advice – “Walk humbly with your God.”  Desire what God desires (“requires“) for us: to love mercy and act justly.  Get to know Him through His Word and you will learn how.