8 He has told you, human one, what is good and
what the Lord requires from you:
to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.
Reflection
What is it that God wants from us? This is the question that Israel asks when the prophet Micah points out their failure to uphold their end of the covenant that God made with Israel. God has been faithful to Israel, but they have fallen away from loving God. Now their worship is only hollow sacrificial ritual and they live shallow lives only concerned with gaining wealth and power at the expense of others. But God does not want sacrificial offerings, God desires for us to do justice, embrace faithful love and to walk humbly with God. This is our call to action. While this may sound simple, humility, justice and faithful love do not come naturally to most humans, these are gifts that come from daily walking with God.
As followers of Jesus, we know that we can’t earn our salvation by any actions of our own. Our salvation comes from the grace of God and faith in Jesus who died for us. Our faith, in turn, informs our actions. As followers of Jesus, we are in a relationship with God. Because of God’s
love for us, God takes our hand to walk life’s journey with us. When we walk humbly with God, God’s compassion for us, flows through us to others, making it possible for us to walk alongside the weak, the lonely, and the outcast.
Walking with God opens our eyes to the injustice in the world that we would rather not see. God calls us to take action to eliminate injustice and to work for justice and mercy to restore unfair systems of inequality that oppress people. Each day we are called to have the courage to confront evil and hate in all its forms as we encounter it. Walking with God, we embrace faithful love for God and others, as Jesus’ life showed us how to love. We can show God’s love to others, welcoming others into God’s kin- dom.
by Jeneene Reduker
For Pondering and Prayer
Walking with God is a life of discipleship. Which part of this verse do you feel that God is calling you to take action? Is God calling you into relationship to walk humbly with God each day? Is God calling you to do justice in the situations you encounter each day, or is God calling you to embrace and show faithful love to others?
Prayer: Holy and Loving God, thank you for walking with us each day so we can grow as disciples. Give us the courage to confront injustice and the compassion to show faithful love to others. We ask this in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
