Daily Devotional

June 21st, 2023
by Michael Bergman

"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

Here in Micah, just prior to this verse the prophet is crying out a question. How can I please the Lord? He asks if it requires thousands of rams, or rivers of oil, or his firstborn for the sins of his soul. The answer comes in this verse, that the Lord requires us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Now this sounds simple enough right? But is it?

Do you always practice perfect justice in your daily life? Are you always honest and fair in all your dealings? Have you ever concealed part of the truth? Well then, I guess not. What about mercy? Are you always merciful and quick to forgive? Or do you seek revenge, attempt to get even, and harbor resentment towards those that may have wronged you? Well, then I guess you don’t love mercy. How about walking humbly with God? What is the opposite of humility? Pride. Pride is something we all struggle with in various degrees when we think we know best when we have to be right when we lean on our own wisdom rather than God’s. You can think of pride as the original sin; it’s what caused Satan’s fall.

So if we can’t really do these three seemingly simple things then what hope is there for us? Well, simply put, Jesus. We don’t have the power to follow the law by our own strength in our fallen, sinful, human nature, so God sent Jesus to be our salvation. In John 6:29 Jesus said, “this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” We need only to believe in Jesus, that He is Lord and our God. Our hearts will then be turned toward justice, mercy, and humility through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our own righteousness is as filthy rags, it says in Isaiah 64:6. We don’t do good works to earn our salvation, our good works are a result of a redeemed heart. So as you live your life in Christ, strive for justice and mercy, and do all things in humility remembering that we represent God to others here on earth. Let our witness not be marred by our sins, but let the world see God through the lives we live.

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