Requirements

Micah 6:8 "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?"

I woke up this morning thinking about people in need. Weird how that works. I mean, I didn't go to bed thinking about this, but somehow when my mind was fresh and my heart open the needs of certain people popped into my brain. You see, I am the guy in my church who oversees our benevolence disbursements. When people have needs they funnel the request to me and I have to make a decision about what goes out and how it goes out. Normally these requests come in from people in the church. That is usually what these funds are used for. The thing is, recently we have had people calling our church or people in our church who know people who are not associated with our church who have needs. One guy called and he asked if we could help him pay for his hotel room where he lived. Another person e-mailed and wondered if we could help a family whose Dad is in the hospital. Another person e-mailed and asked if we could help with a family of a Mom and five kids who were abandoned by their Husband and Father who have all kinds of needs. I struggle with how to help because we have already depleted our benevolence resources…then read this: "He has shown you Glen, what is good. What does God require of you? Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your God."

Do justly. Be sure justice is achieved. Do what is right. Don't play favorites. Don't weigh the scales inequitably as these people in Micah's day were doing. Treat everyone equally…even if you don't know them. Even if they are not a part of your church.

Love mercy. Mercy here means goodness…kindness. Love doing good. Love being kind.

Walk humbly with your God. Understand who I am before God. As I have written before. I am just a speck of a person, on this speck of a world that we call earth, in this speck of a solar system, in this gigantic expanse that we don't have a clue how far it goes or what is contained in it, that God created and holds together in perfect harmony. (Whew…quite a sentence.) I have to maintain a proper view of who I am, who others are and who God is.

Then I think of verses like "Do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith." And I think of stories like the Good Samaritan and I wonder…how? How do we do this? How do we manage it? How do we have the discernment to know…the wisdom to know? Then God whispers: "Trust Me. Listen to Me. Watch Me supply."

God only requires justice, mercy, and humility. Walk that way.