Sermon Central
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Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly With Your God!
Contributed by Pastor Jeff Hughes on Feb 1, 2014 (message contributor)
Micah 6:6-8 With what shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you. But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? NKJV
Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly With Your God!
Today, even more so than when I was younger it seems, people are proud of their pride. Now you may look at that statement and say "What?". But if you think about it, it is true. We are, by our nature, filled with pride--which is an abomination to God (Prov 6:16-19).
God hates pride...hates it, hates it, hates it! But today people are not just prideful, but are proud of their prideful actions. For instance, I have seen people make the following post on Facebook, and it pretty much sums up the attitude that I am speaking of:
I’m a handful, I’m strong willed, independent, a bit outspoken and I tell it like it is. I make mistakes, I am sometimes out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.
What in the world is that all about? Yikes! "I am proud of being stubborn and prideful and shame on you if you don’t accept me for being a prideful stubborn jerk" is what that says. While it is true that we should be loving and accepting of people, the idea that we have to accept poor behavior from those same people is just flat out messed up. Even more messed up is the idea that professing Christians would think the same.
What is worse than all of that to me is reflected in today’s key passage. Some people have this mistaken idea that they can impress God with the material and monetary--stuff and money. In the day of Micah, people gave burnt offerings to pagan gods (with a small g), offered up oil (a commodity), flocks and even their own children to "appease the gods". It is, in short, "I will give you all sorts of stuff and even my own children". However, there are two great problems.
First, God is not impressed with stuff and money. Second, God is looking at the heart. He is looking for those that walk with Him, and not just throw money or stuff at Him. While it is true that God does bless people with the material or the monetary for His purposes, I have found in my years in the pastorate that some people use what they have as leverage in the political environment of the church. This should never be.
Years ago--early in the plant of the church--we had one woman that gave quite generously to the church. I thought, at first, it was a sign of spiritual maturity; although older, she had just come to faith a few months earlier. However, she had it get back to me through another person that since she gave more than anyone in the church that she should be in our church leadership. She was not giving out of the abundance of her heart, she was giving with the motivation of her pride! This is not giving of your abundance in humility by a long shot.
When you go to God, go with a humble heart, not with stuff and money.
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