Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
A Challenging Question
What does the Lord require of you? It's a question I find incredibly challenging as we look at Micah chapter 6, verse 8 today. "No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
That is incredibly challenging, but it's also encouraging as we look at this particular passage.
Micah is essentially a prophet. He proclaimed the injustices of Judah, and he also spoke to the righteousness of Yahweh, of God Himself.
As we look at this particular passage, just to get the flow of the context, a few verses before our Verse of the Day, he says this: "What can we bring to the Lord?...Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?"
I mean, ten thousand rivers of olive oil? That's a lot of olive oil. He's basically saying, are we just to give a bunch of offerings to God? What are we supposed to do?
Two Gospel Truths
As we study this verse, there are two Gospel truths that really flow into these grace-driven responses.
Number one, recognize we fall short. Recognize that you and I fall short of this very well-known passage. Is anybody like me? You look at this, and God's saying, I just want you to do what is right. I want you to love mercy. I want you to just walk humbly with the Lord.
I look at that and I'm like, Lord, I fail all three. I not only fail all three, but I fail them very often. So where is the encouragement in this passage? First of all, again, we are to recognize that we fall short of this standard, and therefore it positions us for grace.
Number two, realize Christ fulfills the standard. Though you have missed the standard and fallen short of the standard, and I fall short of the standard, Christ fulfills this particular standard for us. Very simple question: Who is the One who, according to the verse, 100% of the time always did right? Who 100% of the time was always merciful? Who was the One who 100% of the time always walked humbly with His God?
We know, obviously, it was Jesus, because God Himself said, "This is My Son. With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him." Jesus Christ Himself fulfills the standard, which puts us, friends, in a position now to take this verse and be motivated to live it out with grace-fueled, grace-driven obedience.
Live From Gratitude, Not Guilt
Very simply, I have two applications. Number one, live from gratitude, not guilt. Live out Micah chapter 6, verse 8 from gratitude, not guilt because I don't do this and I don't do that. Grace is what changes your heart, my friends—your heart and mine. This is not some moral lesson that Micah is giving us that we're to somehow achieve. Jesus Christ fulfilled this standard. Therefore, because He fulfilled the standard for you and me, it motivates us to live it out, because He loved us first.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He lived this perfect life. He always was humble, always was gracious, was completely merciful and walked humbly with God. Because He fulfilled all this for us, we are to live this out as best we can from gratitude because of what Jesus Christ has already done for us.
You may be wondering, am I supposed to work hard? Am I supposed to read my Bible and pray and go to church and do all the spiritual disciplines? Absolutely. You do all those disciplines knowing that you have the One, Jesus, who already fulfilled them for you and me. We're to lean on grace, not ultimately on grit. Grit's good, and that will help us, motivate us and empower us to obedience. Ultimately, though, it's the grace of God that makes us do anything.
Extend the Grace You've Received
Number two, if we've been given this grace, extend the grace you've received. Paul said in Colossians chapter 3, verse 13 to forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. You know what's going to happen in your life? It's happened in mine. Maybe it's already happened in yours. People are going to hurt you.
People are going to wrong you. They're going to hurt you deeply. You're going to be tempted to say, I'm not forgiving that person. I'm going to remember what happened there. God wants us to forgive people. I get phone calls all the time—wonderful conversations with people—and people are just mad and bitter.
Here's the deal—for you, for me, for everybody in the whole universe, the truth is this: the more amazed you are by God's mercy in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more ready you and I will be to show mercy, show love and serve other people.
