Walk Humbly

Seven hundred years before Jesus walked the earth, a prophet Micah wrote words given to him by God; words that toll us what God expected from His children as they worked out the life of service.

Micah 6:8
"He has showed you, O men, what is good. And what doe the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

God loves us so much that He gave His Son so we may be restored to Him and receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16). When we begin to understand the fullness of His love and place our complete trust in Him for the forgiveness of sin, it's natural to ask: "What do You now require of me Lord?" But as we search the Scriptures, we find no additional "requirements" for our Christian walk, which are not summed up in the words of Micah.

As we live by Faith, we must "act justly" by doing what is fair and right; "Anyone who does not do what is right is not a Child of God" (1 John 3:10). This means we live with integrity and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 13:31).

God requires that we show His love and mercy through offering compassion and forgiveness to other; "judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful" (James 2:13). It also means we live with a continual thankfulness for God's mercy toward us. And understanding of God's merciful forgiveness of our sins should compel us to forgive and show mercy to others. Without God's mercy, we would all be lost.

The final requirement is for us to "walk humbly" with our God. The word humble means to place a low value on "self." This is not a very popular concept in our "me-first-generation," which seems to reward the individual who is prideful and confident in his own ability. We are trained to achieve, acquire, and rise higher than we believe possible; but God calls us to submit and walk with Christ continually exalted above all else in our life; "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30).

True humility is required for proper worship and thankfulness before God. We did nothing to deserve eternal live and yet we have received. We are made worthy and given value without having done anything to earn our Salvation. This heavenly gift ought to produce a never ending stream of praise from our heart and cause us to focus less on ourselves and more on the needs of others.

All we have and all we are has been given to us by a loving God who created the Universe and accepted us into His Kingdom through Faith in His Son. Let's glorify Him with every step we take; and with each step of Faith, let's remember to act justly, love mercifully, and walk humility.

By Steve Troxel
God's Daily Word
God's Daily Word [closerwalk@gdwm.org]