Micah 6:7-8 “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Many times men feel they can do better than God. This was true with the leaders of Israel when many times they felt they had the best plan for their offerings. They thought God would be satisfied as long as they called on His name every once in a while. Visited the Temple on special days and offered something shinny on the alter. But outward expressions of worship have never bee sufficient to satisfy God.
Remember what happened to King Saul when he was told by God to utterly destroy everything that belonged to the Amalekites. Saul felt that was not the best thing to do. He then brought some of the best cattle back to offer as a sacrifice to God. After all God would understand wouldn’t He? God then told Samuel to tell Saul “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” 1 Samuel 15:22 In other words outward expressions of worship without inward motivation is an abomination to God. God was not happy with Saul and he will not be happy with us.
So what does God require? First he requires we are to do justly. How many people do you know who trust you 100%? Or how many do you trust 100%? I mean how many people do you personally know who you trust completely? God requires us to be honest with other people. Do we say one thing on Sunday and another on Monday? God requires us to be the same every day of the week. To do less would make us a hypocrite.
God requires us to love mercy. Mercy means we don’t get what we deserve. Qualities such as longsuffering, forgiveness and patience go hand in hand with mercy. Kind of sounds like God wants us to be like Him. To love mercy means to do more than is required of us. It’s more than just keeping the letter of the law.
God requires us to walk humbly. No one likes a proud, stuck-up self-centered person, neither does God. In James 4:6 we are given this instruction, “But He giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” God expects us to do more than just come to church on Sunday and Wednesday. He expects us to fulfill our obligations. He expects us to have more that an outward expression of worship. He expects us to have an inward spirit of humility, mercy and justice. Our outward expressions of worship are meaningless if we don’t have the right inward motivations. Traditions, rites and rituals are meaningless if we do not have the love of Christ in our hearts.
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