Requirement for Service

Requirement for Service
"He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (6:8)
     Micah is not quite like most of the other prophets, pronouncing doom and gloom, but more proclaiming of judgment and the promise of future blessing for Israel and Judah.  Although he gave them simple instructions, he let them know it would take a lifetime of discipline and self-denial to bring them to these three places of obedience.  First, in following the Lord, a person could not practice social injustice, but was instead obligated to do the right thing.  Secondly, they would have to love mercy.  To love mercy meant that they would have to have a loyal and steadfast love.  A lot like the love which Jesus told his disciples to have in Luke 6:27 "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."  Finally, Micah called for the people to walk humbly before God.  This would mean being dependent upon the Lord rather than mere human efforts to obtain resources. 
     Micah was also not afraid to confront the leaders of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  "They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalemwith iniquity.  The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priest thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us.  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest" (3:8-12). The leaders had abandoned the call of God on their lives and because of this judgment was coming.  Both Judah and Israel would fall, but God would later restore the Jewish people.
     Ezekiel 33:35 says: "He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. Have you ever had the oil warning light come on in your car?  Once that light comes on it is a sure sign that something is wrong, and you need to do something about it.  If you choose to ignore the warning, you could end up with major engine problems.  This is in a sense, the message Micah brought to the people of God.  God gives warnings so we will not have to suffer His wrath. If God's warnings are not heeded and His provision for sin in the sacrifice of His Son is rejected, Judgment is certain. For the believer in Christ, God will discipline us "not from hate" but because He loves us. He knows that sin destroys and He wants us to be whole. This wholeness which is the promise of restoration awaits those who remain obedient to Him.  If we are going to enjoy future blessings we need to do the right thing, have a loyal and steadfast love for those around us, and look to the Lord our everything.  It is a requirement for service!