Walking Humbly with God - Day 317 Month 11-12 Week 44-2
Walking Humbly with God
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
Ezra 6:1-7:10, Job 35, Micah 6, 1 Peter 5
Humankind, represented by many religions and some in the Christian faith, has looked to deeds and sacrifices as a way of appeasing God, or whatever god they worship. We, through self-reflection, often recognize a need to clear our hearts before the Creator. I’ve often referred to religion as man’s pursuit of God while faith in Jesus, is God’s pursuit of man.
Micah asks what God actually requires of us. He raises questions about different sacrifices and offerings, but then gives us the answer in Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” This is not to say sacrifice is bad, but sacrifice without doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God has little value. The emphasis is not on bringing God more offerings, but on how we live and the condition of our hearts. When our hearts and minds are centred on God, we will want to show kindness to others and pursue justice.
In the early years of my life, my family had a lot of spoken and unspoken rules. We went to church every Sunday. It did not matter whether we were sick or tired; we went to church on Sunday mornings and evenings. We also went to church on Wednesday nights. Church was a big deal in my family growing up. We also had a lot of discipline rules. As an example, I would never have thought of using foul language. If I was bullied at school, I was taught to turn the other cheek, and of course that made the bullies even meaner because they wanted a reaction. If I was out playing, my mom’s voice calling us to dinner required an instant response. We didn't delay our father when he had plans. We knew better than to risk experiencing my dad’s wrath. I grew up thinking that my faith was all rules and discipline, after all. I wanted to be a good Christian. I didn’t realize that what God wants is for us to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with Him.
Using attending church as an example, I continued treating regular church attendance as a requirement to keep my faith strong. I would head off to church on Sunday mornings and evenings until one day, I was getting ready for church on a Sunday night and my wife at the time (I was married before) said, “I’m not going.” I was paralyzed in shock. I felt like our faith as a family had just been shattered. Up until then, I had thought that our regular church attendance was what held our faith together. If one of us chose not to go, what did that say about our faith?
As life went on, I came to realize that church is one of those things that you attend because you want to hear from God, be with other believers and worship together. It’s not a have to; it’s a want to.
The “want to” bit is the important bit. If the actions we live by as part of our faith are a “have to” as opposed to a “want to,” we have turned our faith into religious action. So I can honestly say that growing up, I was religious, but now I have faith. The actions I take because of my faith in Jesus, and because I want to, are about pursuing justice, showing kindness and walking humbly with God.
The apostle Peter follows up what Micah says with his charge to believers in 1 Peter 5:6-7, where he says to “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” It’s easy to become proud, and Jesus followers are also tempted by sin and power. Peter is reminding us to actively humble ourselves. He also tells us to cast our anxieties on God. When we walk humbly with Him, we recognize that we don't have to carry all our worries by ourselves. We can trust Him.
Why? Because He cares for you!
Have a great day!
Steve
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