Micah 6: 6Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or 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? 8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Here is a sobering passage with three questions for us in the New Year. We see the heart of God’s will. They are fair and simple enough questions. We need to be careful not to give excuses as answers. Of course we can give any response we want, but it’s always best to answer God honestly because he already knows. We can see and learn a lot about ourselves from honest answers to God.
It’s a sobering business to have a relationship with God. He takes great care in being what and who he is. Man’s greatest sin today is his lukewarm attitude. Do you think “I’m doing fairly well? I’m a pretty decent Christian.” Then you focus on other things as if there is nothing else to do. I’m afraid the Lord may take away our luxuries, the little gods, to wake us up. America has a strong dependence on things of the world instead of God.
Let’s consider the questions.
Number 1 deals with our approach to God.
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
In this easy-going, let-your-hair-down society, many feel they can approach God in any way, shape, or form and he’ll accept it and let them go on as they are. Consider this. God always approaches us first. Every morning he’s there. How shall we present ourselves to the Lord each day? Do we give him the reverence and respect he deserves? Do we come to him thinking about what we’re doing?
In the Old Testament, the average person came only so far in the temple. Then it was up to the priests and the high priest. Access to the Holy of Holies was accessible by one man. Because of the cross, we have access to God by grace through faith. We are we doing with it? Do we try to sanctify ourselves? Do we distance ourselves from our carnality and haphazard approach? Remember what the scripture says. We can’t make our own way, our own rules. We do things God’s way. We are the receivers because we are the needy. We should come to him in a careful manner showing all the respect and honor God deserves. The way we present ourselves to others is the way we are presented to the Lord. How pleased is he?
Number 2 deals with what we plan to offer the Lord. Will he be pleased?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or 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?
What a question! We have our own being and are in position of submission. The first question was about our approach; this is about our submission—or our offering. This is not financial. Remember the 10% tithe is God’s anyway. God set that down, and when we give 10% we’re only giving that back. Our offering is above that. We should be doing that, but here he is talking about more than money.
What will he be pleased with? If I give my firstborn, will it be enough? You and I can’t do anything about the sin of our soul. We can offer all our substance and it will do nothing. The offering for sin is faith in Jesus Christ. We can’t bribe God with an outward show. When we offer to God he needs to see the sacrifice of our faith. The only thing of ourselves we can give is our submission to him. He tells us what he wants. The question is poised “will he be pleased with 1,000 rams if he only asks for one?” No! He is pleased when we are obedient to his word. Are you obeying the word?
Number 3 deals with what he requires.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
It’s not hard. It’s not deep. It’s not impossible. We have to do right by the Lord. He has a general will for all, but he has a personal will for each of us. Are we fulfilling it? We can’t sit in the driver’s seat. Our life should be about compliance to God, not breaking our necks to get him to bend to our whims. God doesn’t have to comply. We do. We can’t nail him to the wall, but he can do that to us. Jesus told us that it is his word that we’ll answer to. Therefore, it’s best to comply with it; do what it says.
We are also to love mercy. We should be thoughtful, forgiving and forbearing of each other. We need those ourselves. Before I can help you, I must be thankful for the mercy I have received from the Lord. We have forgotten how to say “thank you, Lord.” Remind yourself that every breath, every blessing is from the Lord. Love God and the mercy and grace he shows. We saw 2012 because of the mercy of God. We are to show that same mercy to others.
The last step is for us to remember who and what we are. We need to step down from the self-sufficiency of our little nest. Are you ever like the Pharisee? You’re so glad you’re not like so and so. You’d never do what so and so did. To walk with the Lord, we must do so humbly. Jesus humbled himself and became a man. He walked in our shoes to the death. Leave religious pride. To walk with the Lord in a pleasing way, we must walk humbly. Walking with him should be our goal in 2012. It’s a matter of conforming to his will and being transformed by the Spirit.
We have to pass this test. I want to please God. Do you? There is no reason we can’t answer these questions in a way that pleases him.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 