Micah 6:1-8  Hear what the LORD says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.  ² Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.  ³ "O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!  ⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.  ⁵ O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD."  ⁶ "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, 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?"  ⁸ He has told you, O mortal, 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?

            What does the Lord require of you?  As a Christian, what do you think the Lord is asking you to do on a daily basis?  In this section of Micah, God is telling the Israelites who are exiled in Babylon what is required of them.  He has just previously spoken through the prophet Micah and promised that Jerusalem would be restored:

Micah 4:6-8  ⁶ In that day, says the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away, and those whom I have afflicted.  ⁷ The lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion now and forevermore.  ⁸ And you, O tower of the flock, hill of daughter Zion, to you it shall come, the former dominion shall come, the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.

God has also just given instructions to the future remnant that will re-establish Jerusalem:

Micah 5:7-9  ⁷ Then the remnant of Jacob, surrounded by many peoples, shall be like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not depend upon people or wait for any mortal.  ⁸ And among the nations the remnant of Jacob, surrounded by many peoples, shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver.  ⁹ Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.

Now the Lord tells the people through the prophet what He requires.  Unlike the previous laws (Ten Commandments and other covenantal laws), this requirement is in three simple parts.  The remnant is to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.  If we think about it hard enough, we see that all of the God given laws fall under these three requirements.  Everything about living together in a covenantal relationship can begin with these three requirements.  So as Christians who live lives formed in baptismal covenants, I ask again:  What does the Lord require of you?

In our prayers this week:  Wendi, Ann, Diane, Robert, Gail H., and Catherine 

God’s Peace,