Day 64: What does God want from His people? - Micah 6 vs 1 - 8

1 Listen to what the Lord is saying: “Stand up and state your case against me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints.” 2 And now, O mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint! He has a case against his people. He will bring charges against Israel. 3 “O my people, what have I done to you? What have I done to make you tired of me? Answer me!”

4 “For I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you. 5 Don’t you remember, my people, how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead? And remember your journey from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, when I, the Lord, did everything I could to teach you about my faithfulness.”

6-7 What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? 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? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins 8 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. Micah 6:1-8 New Living Translation.

It’s not unusual to hear people complaining about God and the way He does things. But have you ever stopped to think whether He might have any complaints against you? In vs 1-2 God calls the surrounding mountains to listen to a complaint He had against the people in the days of Micah the prophet. Look at the question He puts to them in vs 3.

Can you think of anything about God that would make you tired of Him?

(Hopefully you couldn't – but, if we're honest, there are probably things in our lives we sometimes wish had worked out differently. Inevitably our own fault, but we sometimes say “Oh God, if only…”

In vs 4-5 God reminds them of how He had saved them out of slavery and tenderly cared for them as they journeyed through the wilderness. He had given people to help them. The reference to Balak and Balam goes back to what we read in Numbers 22-24. A local King had paid big money for Balaam to put a curse on Israel – but God had prevented it from happening and Israel had been blessed instead. We probably don't realise how often God HAS worked behind the scenes in our lives also, and saved us from events that would've been a disaster.

I think vs 6-7 is a question Micah now puts to the people. It's as if he is saying: “Tell me, has God put huge demands on you? Do you think He is really needs your sacrifices? Has He asked for large ones, or even that you sacrifice your own child? (Remember God has asked if there was anything He had done that had made them tired of Him, and turn away from Him.)

And then, in vs 8, we have one of the loveliest verses in the Bible where God tells His people what He really wants from them. He mentions just three things, so He is not asking a lot. Take some moments today to think about those three things - and then perhaps pray to God about them.

Remember, God doesn't ask you to put these things into your life so you will be good enough for Him to love and save you – He has already given His beloved Son on the cross to do that! Nothing we do could ever match that. But these things should be part of our life because that’s all God wants in return for saving us, and for the love He showers upon us every day of our lives.