2010 – June 27 – Words To Live By

Study from God’s Word… Micah, Chapters 6 and 7 … Passage for Reflection: Micah 6: 8 … NIV He has showed you, O Man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

My Journal for Today: In today’s highlight passage, we may read the greatest and most powerful rhetorical question in all of the Bible, save maybe what the rich young ruler or Nicodemus asked Jesus about salvation. And I’ll bet, like me, you’ve wanted to know the answer to that question, “What does the Lord require of us (His children)?” And right there, in Micah 6: 8 is the answer, which is essentially the same answer Jesus gave when He was asked about attaining eternal life by a lawyer. [see Luke 10: 27] I’ll bet you know it. Jesus, responded, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, [Deut. 6: 5] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” [Lev. 19: 18]

Check it out! Jesus’ answer is qualitatively the same as the answer God has for us about what is required of those who serve/follow Him … to love/serve others and to HUMBLY follow Him. Isn’t it also what Jesus said in Luke 9: 23, when he told His disciples (aren’t you one of His disciples?), Then He said to them all: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. It’s all the same thing, isn’t it; … to deny ourselves by loving others and to walk with Him … by doing what it takes to humbly follow Him.

Yes, I know what you’re probably thinking; … “But Bill, … Dude [!], that’s a tall order!!” And you’re right; … it is. But when we can do the unnatural, … the super-natural, … and choose to deny our self, love others, and follow our Lord, the pay-offs are OUT OF THIS WORLD (i.e., eternal life as promised in John 3: 16).

I really need not dwell on this, do I? But the key is whether we choose – BY FAITH – to humble ourselves and follow our Lord. That’s the biggie question; and how we answer it depends on our eternal future in the next life and our transformation in this life. So, I leave you to answer God’s question about how we might please our Lord.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, in faith, You know my answer. I am nothing without following You. Help me to do that by humbly loving others. Amen