DAY SEVENTEEN – Monday, March 8, 2021
Micah 6:6-8
“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?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of 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 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?
I think there is a difference between what God desires for you and what God requires of you. God wants you to be happy and whole. To be a whole person, means you have a healing relationship with yourself, with others and with God. Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God, facilitates this wholeness, this desire God has for our lives. It is a requirement, because God wants your neighbour to be happy and whole as well. Justice reconciles us to our neighbour. Living your life as one who loves kindness (and not just pretending to be nice because it is polite or gets us what we want) is another way to being honestly connected with ourselves and our neighbour. Nurturing a kind and loving spirit in ourselves will also give us a more joyful outlook on life. And walking humbly with God, of course, continues to build on our connection with God. I love that there is action associated with our connection with God. Our faith is not a once and for all time moment, but many moments. Our faith is a long walk with God. Sometimes God is pushing us from behind, sometimes God is out front, pulling us into the unknown. Most of the time, God is simply walking beside us. It is a humble walk. A walk of listening and learning. Just when we think and feel we have it all figured out, God surprises us again!
Elaine Hall
Micah 6:6-8
“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?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of 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 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?
I think there is a difference between what God desires for you and what God requires of you. God wants you to be happy and whole. To be a whole person, means you have a healing relationship with yourself, with others and with God. Doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God, facilitates this wholeness, this desire God has for our lives. It is a requirement, because God wants your neighbour to be happy and whole as well. Justice reconciles us to our neighbour. Living your life as one who loves kindness (and not just pretending to be nice because it is polite or gets us what we want) is another way to being honestly connected with ourselves and our neighbour. Nurturing a kind and loving spirit in ourselves will also give us a more joyful outlook on life. And walking humbly with God, of course, continues to build on our connection with God. I love that there is action associated with our connection with God. Our faith is not a once and for all time moment, but many moments. Our faith is a long walk with God. Sometimes God is pushing us from behind, sometimes God is out front, pulling us into the unknown. Most of the time, God is simply walking beside us. It is a humble walk. A walk of listening and learning. Just when we think and feel we have it all figured out, God surprises us again!
Elaine Hall
