Micah 6:8

If I had a nickle for every time that I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do, what direction He wanted me to take or, what He expected of me . . . I'd be rich!! Those are valid questions for a Christian who wants to walk in God's will. A Christian who wants to live a life that is pleasing to God, asks those kinds of questions.

However, God has already made it abundantly clear what He wants from me. And those instructions are written in Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God."

Whew! That is a pretty tall order isn't it? But, at first blush I have to admit, reading this verse still leaves me with some of those same questions. I mean, what does that really mean for how I live . . . daily? Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly . . . sounds pretty standard, but what does it mean when applied to real life?

Doing justice isn't just hearing about an injustice and saying a prayer; it's more than just feeling bad about anothers plight; and just sending a check to ease our conscience as though that would be enough, just doesn't cut it for Godly living. Instead its all about seeing an injustice and doing something to make it right. It's about seeing a need and meeting it, and it's about getting personally engaged in being the hands and feet of Christ, in spite of our own level of comfort regarding the matter.

Loving kindness means to embrace it with heart and soul. That kind of kindness is catchy, its quite frankly, unexpected these days! Kindness is more than just being nice . . . it's more than doing sweet things for those you love . . . it's actually doing kind things when you don't feel like it, when you don't care for the person your encountering and when the last thing you want to do, is look beyond yourself to another. To love kindness is something you do because you can't not do it! Kindness is about attitude, actions, words . . . it's like having a heart-a-tude! I like that, a heart-a-tude bypass that bridges over my own self centeredness and prefers to do for others first.

Finally, the "walking humbly with my God" part is really interesting. We go about our daily lives doing our own thing, and seldom do we think about God. To walk humbly means to respect with reverence and awe the justice of God, the righteousness of God and the power of God. It means to be in a conscience state of awareness how small we really are, and how big our God really is. Walking humbly has to do with honoring God in all I do, since it is God who holds my future in His hands! I said it was interesting because I'm very aware how little thought I actually give to God in my daily living. Yet, there isn't a breath I draw that isn't given to me by God. There isn't a sight I see that isn't a gift from God. There isn't a thing I have that doesn't come from God . . . reasons to humble myself to the one who is supreme in my life . . . not me . . . but Thee!