In our last post, we discussed Micah’s "He has shown 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 6:8
Before we go any further into exploring what justice and kindness look like in our everyday lives, I’d like to pause for a minute. Many of us have tried—some of us many times—to live Micah 6:8 lives. But for whatever reason we were deterred. It got really hard. Life got in the way. We encountered problems that seemed entirely unfixable, and injustices that were entrenched and unyielding. Maybe we burned out and went back to living a life we could understand, a life of just providing and getting by, a life somehow more manageable.
But that’s not the good life. That’s not the adventure that Micah 6:8 invites us to.
So we must ask, before we go any further, how can we possibly find the strength to do this? What is the sustaining power to continue pursuing justice, when those we try to help are imprisoned by myriad diverse chains that our meager tools cannot pry free? How do we continue in service when we ourselves are deeply broken? Have we been sent on a Quixotic quest, doomed to futility?
Before we go any further into exploring what justice and kindness look like in our everyday lives, I’d like to pause for a minute. Many of us have tried—some of us many times—to live Micah 6:8 lives. But for whatever reason we were deterred. It got really hard. Life got in the way. We encountered problems that seemed entirely unfixable, and injustices that were entrenched and unyielding. Maybe we burned out and went back to living a life we could understand, a life of just providing and getting by, a life somehow more manageable.
But that’s not the good life. That’s not the adventure that Micah 6:8 invites us to.
So we must ask, before we go any further, how can we possibly find the strength to do this? What is the sustaining power to continue pursuing justice, when those we try to help are imprisoned by myriad diverse chains that our meager tools cannot pry free? How do we continue in service when we ourselves are deeply broken? Have we been sent on a Quixotic quest, doomed to futility?
I think the answer is in Micah’s charge itself.
Walk humbly with your God.
When we drop those last three words, we miss the point entirely. We make Micah’s mandate into a list of right behaviors. While “do justice, love mercy, walk humbly" may make a neater list, it certainly makes for a poorer life. Because living the good life is only possible when we take every step with Him. It is only in knowing the God of Justice and Mercy that we are empowered to live and serve with joy.
So Micah reminds us that in this journey of pursuing justice, we are not alone. Our God walks alongside and goes before us. As we do justice and love mercy, we find ourselves working with Him in His mission to save and redeem and restore. It is because of the Lord’s faithfulness towards us that we can pursue justice and show mercy.
“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.” Psalm 89:1-2
Join us next week as we continue to think through how the Lord’s faithfulness enables us to live lives of justice.
Walk humbly with your God.
When we drop those last three words, we miss the point entirely. We make Micah’s mandate into a list of right behaviors. While “do justice, love mercy, walk humbly" may make a neater list, it certainly makes for a poorer life. Because living the good life is only possible when we take every step with Him. It is only in knowing the God of Justice and Mercy that we are empowered to live and serve with joy.
So Micah reminds us that in this journey of pursuing justice, we are not alone. Our God walks alongside and goes before us. As we do justice and love mercy, we find ourselves working with Him in His mission to save and redeem and restore. It is because of the Lord’s faithfulness towards us that we can pursue justice and show mercy.
“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.” Psalm 89:1-2
Join us next week as we continue to think through how the Lord’s faithfulness enables us to live lives of justice.
