A List Of Ways To Please God in Micah 6:8
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~ Today’s Scripture Art and Bible blog post about the list of ways to please God in Micah 6:8 are designed to help you write God’s Word on your heart. ~
When you became a Christian, were you told “it’s not about doing a list of religious things?” Yet on this blog, I tell you all the time to read your Bible every day. And we’re supposed to go to church every Sunday. What about Micah 6:8? And what about the Ten Commandments? Aren’t they a “list of religious things?”
So what does the Lord require, anyway?
A list, or no list?
Even before pencils and paper, we humans were always asking for a list.
Micah 6:6-7 (NLT): What can we bring to the LORD? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God 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?
The Israelites had been called to the carpet about their sin. So they asked for a list of things to do to make it right.
Now I like a good list as much as the next OCD person.
But does God?
Ok, you want a list? You got it …
Micah 6:8 (ESV): He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah was in essence saying, “You know, guys, God has already told you umpteen times what is required. Let’s go over this one more time.”
You see, this simple list of ways to please God is repeated all throughout Scripture.
Just to name a few …
Deuteronomy 10:12 (ESV): “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
1 Timothy 1:5 (NASB): But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Matthew 22:37 (ESV): And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Do we keep asking the same questions too?
Chuck Swindoll puts it this way, “Micah’s words state exactly what many, to this day, wonder about pleasing God. Teachers and preachers have made it so sacrificial . . . so complicated . . . so extremely difficult. […] Micah erases all the things on the entire list, replacing the complicated possibilities with one of the finest definitions of simple faith. Faith is not a long series of religious performances or a pile of pious things. All God asks for is simple faith.”
So what does simple faith look like?
Micah lays it out with a list of three things.
1. Do justice (or justly).
The word translated justice is Strong’s #4941 which means to do what is right. The same word is used by Micah in chapter 3 …
Micah 3:1 (NLT): I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong,
How can we know what’s right, so we can do it?
Hang out with God. Dig in His Word.
2. Love kindness.
The word translated kindness is Strong’s #2617 which is often translated lovingkindness. It means faithful love, unfailing love, God’s covenant love, emphasizing the unwavering constancy of His love. The same word is translated “steadfast love” in this verse …
Exodus 34:6 (ESV): The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
How can we develop this unfailing kindess?
Hang out with God. Dig in His Word.
3. Walk humbly with your God
Walk humbly means to act submissively, recognizing one’s position of lowliness; to fellowship with Him in modesty without arrogance. This particular word for humbly (Strong’s #6800) is only used in one other verse …
Proverbs 11:2 (CSB): When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
How can we learn to walk with Him without arrogance?
Put Him at the top of your list …
… which will automatically put you below Him.
Psalm 25:9 (ESV): He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Hang out with God. Dig in His Word.
Spend time in His Word – dare I say – instead of TV, social media, or emails.
Give God His rightful place in every one of your God-given 24 hours.
Let’s not over-complicate what God wants.
To me, the list boils down to one requirement: God wants your heart.
When He is your top desire, all your other desires will line up with His.
Your lists will become identical!
Oh – and by the way, that word require is an active participle, indicating continuous, uninterrupted action.
So He is continually requiring your heart. It’s daily.
There is no checking off the list and calling it done.
He did that on purpose, you know. God appeased us with a list, but He wanted to make sure we didn’t use it as a checklist in a ritualistic way.
He wants us to love and obey Him every day for one reason only – because that’s our true desire. Not because we want to complete a list.
How can we develop that desire?
Walk with Him. Spend time with Him. Dig in His Word.
Because we want to!
*My prayer for you is … that this blog will inspire you to open your Bible every single day to seek God’s face and write His Word on your heart – because HE’S the key to lasting heart change!
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