Daily devotional · September 13
What Does the Lord Require?
“With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The people in Micah's day ask an anxious question: how much must we bring to please God? Thousands of rams? Rivers of oil? They even wonder about the unthinkable. The prophet cuts through the theatre with one of the clearest summaries in the Old Testament, in Micah 6:8: practice fairness, cherish kindness, and stay humble before your God. Notice that all three are relational. Justice concerns how we treat others, mercy how we respond to their failures, and humility how we stand before God. None of them can be outsourced or bought. In a season when many are rebuilding routines, this is a helpful checklist for the heart. Where can you make something fair today? Whom can you treat with more mercy than they deserve? Choose one specific act, perhaps paying someone what you owe them, forgiving a small slight, or admitting you were wrong, and do it before the day ends.
Also read
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8
Prayer
Lord, teach me fairness, kindness and humility before you. Make these more than words in my life today.