What Does God Require?

The other day someone posed me a question, and they said, if you had to come up with an Old Testament Scripture that said it all, what would be the passage that comes to your mind? I thought, well, let me get out my Scripture memory cards and see what might work. No, I didn't actually say that. What comes to mind if you had to sort out a comprehensive, maybe all-embracing statement found in the Old Testament that just says it all? Is there any passage that comes to your mind?

The one that eventually came to my mind is over in Micah 6, verse 8. Micah 6, verse 8, in fact, this is one of the memory cards, and you'll probably recognize it. Over in Micah, it's a big summary statement. But really an amazing one, because if you just plucked it out of the air and didn't mention where it was in the Bible, you might forget that it is in the Old Testament, because it is such an amazing passage. In Micah 6, verse 8, it says, He has shown you, O man, what is good?

And what does the Lord require of you? That's a good question, especially at this time of the year. What does God require of me? The great part is He answers that question. He says, To do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. That's a pretty comprehensive statement, isn't it? It's all-encompassing when you begin to think about it. And so to answer that question, Micah not only poses it, but he does point us in the direction that we need to go.

Now, you wonder, what did ancient Israel think when they heard these words? What would it have meant to them to be posed that question? What would it have meant for the things that God required of them? What about justice and mercy and humility? Was that just a message for them?

And how did it apply to them? What did they think of? Especially when you contrast that with what we would think of as we look at this passage. I thought it might be interesting to do a compare and contrast of then and now, what they may have thought, and what we think about this particular passage.

Think about it for a moment. What did God require of Israel? Maybe they would have thought what's found their back? Just a couple of verses. Look at verse 6. It says, With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings? Boy, maybe that was the first thing that came to their mind. Of course! We've got to bring a calf or a goat, or we've got to bring a turtledove, and we've got to sacrifice before God. And yet, we see a little bit of, I think, what they call hyperbole.

Look at the hyperbole here. It says, Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression? Well, now we're getting a little ridiculous here. But, you know, that could very well be what they thought of. The more sacrificing, the better, because that somehow will make us right with God.

If you were to turn back to Leviticus chapter 1, it lists all of those burnt offerings and the different things that they would have had to go through. And God certainly did require some of those things, like the offering of calves, the offerings of rams. But the amount they get into here of that offering, and then getting to the ridiculousness of the firstborn, he's emphasizing a point, isn't he?

He's emphasizing a point. What's the point? Well, even for Israel, these sacrifices, these physical sacrifices, they by themselves did not please God. Even though it would seem we're covering all our bases, this is what he has said we should do, and yet, implication is here, those rituals, those ceremonial sacrifices alone couldn't please God. Just offering that was one thing, but God wanted more. Even though they were God-ordained, even though God accepted them, the implication here is that there's other things that are just as essential as those offerings.

Well, what was necessary? What was necessary with those sacrifices? Well, God says right here to begin with, he says, to do justly. To do justly should have been something Israel was aware of as well. In other words, we've got to live our life by the standard of God, and that word ties into justice as though we were in a courtroom.

If you've ever had to go to court, you'd like justice, especially if someone has accused you of something wrongly. We want a right sentence. We want a right conclusion. We want the proper verdict. And so, if you were ever in a court case, we want justice. If we want to have justice, that means we have to live by the standard, by the law.

And, of course, in this case, it means we've got to act toward God. We've got to act toward people in a just way, in a right way, in a way that would treat their fellow man the way that God would want them to be treated. And it is an interesting thing when you look through the history of Israel and Judah failing to do justly.

I think that was one of the reasons they finally ended up going into captivity, because they didn't do justly. There's an interesting passage over in Zechariah.

Zechariah chapter 7 verse 8 gives us a little bit more insight into this concept that even in ancient times, this requirement of doing justly should have been a part of their thinking. Zechariah chapter 7 verse 8, here God is speaking to the prophet Zechariah, and he says, The first thing he says in this verse, execute true justice. Now that comes from the same base word as to do justly. Execute true justice, showing mercy, compassion, everyone to his brother.

Don't oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan even in his heart against his brother. That's what we should do. Now what did they do?

Well, verse 11, they refused to heed. They shrugged their shoulders. They stopped their ears so they couldn't hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets.

Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it happened that just as he proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out, and I would not listen, said the Lord of hosts. I scattered them with the world, when among the nations which they had not known. The results, just during the sacrifices, didn't get them to where God wanted them to be. So it says, the land became desolate. No one passed through. They made the pleasant land desolate. And so they were to execute true justice, to do justly, to treat the brothers and sisters the way that God would want them to be treated, even back at that time. Now as you begin to think about that, how much do we execute true justice? That'll be the interesting comparison. So keep that in the back of your mind for a moment, because sometimes that's a difficult thing. It may sound like an easy thing to do, but that's tough. How many times have we shrugged our shoulders and said, well, that's good enough. Isn't that okay? I mean, it's not that big of a deal. How many times do we fall into that? We don't want to be like a guy named Philip of Macedon.

He was a king back at ancient times, and he was the ruler. He was the man. He was the king. And he would often hear court cases. People would come to him for justice.

Well, one day, the story goes, he was hearing a case. And as they were coming to the conclusion, he started to fall asleep. He was kind of bored with it all, so he starts dozing off.

And finally, as the prosecutor finished, he looked to the king for his verdict.

And the king kind of woke up and he said, guilty! And, you know, the man who was being accused could not believe this. He couldn't believe it because he knew he was innocent. The case proved he was innocent. But the king fell asleep. And the king's word is final. That's it. No, it's done. It's over. And so as they're cutting off the man, he yells out, I appeal! I appeal!

Of course, there's no who do you appeal to? The king just said, you're guilty. You're going to die. That's all there is to it. But it kind of caught the king's attention. He said, well, who are you appealing to? And the man yelled out, from the king who was sleeping to the king who is now waking. And as the story goes, he reconsidered the case and freed the man.

I don't know if those are facts or not or just an interesting story. But I think it makes a good point. Are we sometimes dozing off when it comes to our spiritual life? Certainly Israel missed the whole spiritual side of the point. Did loving your neighbor as yourself just start in the New Testament? Or was that something God expected of them right from the start? I think God expected it all along to do justly. Here, if you flip over to chapter 8, Zechariah chapter 8, we see the interesting aspect of this in verse 14. Zechariah 8.14, it says, Thus the Lord of hosts says, Just as I determined to punish you, and your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord of hosts, and I wouldn't relent. So again, in these days, I am determined to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. So God didn't just say, Hey, do justly and figure that out for yourself, what that means. He told him, this is the expectation. This is how you're supposed to treat each other. Verse 16, it says, These are the things you should do. If you want to do justly, speak each man the truth to his neighbor. Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace. Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor and don't love a false oath. For all these things I hate, says the Lord. So even Israel, Judah, were to learn the lesson that sacrifices alone were not enough, that God expected truth. He expected true justice. And if we're going to have a right relationship with our brother, it's got to be based on love. It's got to be based on love. So no wonder we see it taken to the next level in Micah. Because Micah said not only to do justly, but he also said to love mercy. God instructed Israel to love mercy, to be compassionate, to be warm-hearted. To actually kind of like other people. That's what he expected. To be kind! You see, not only treat each other fairly, that's the justice side, but to show mercy. And that is a hard thing to do, isn't it? Especially when they mistreated me. They didn't treat me right. That was wrong. They shouldn't have been doing that. How could they have thought that of me? That was not my intention. That was not my motivation. I didn't want that. That was not in my thinking whatsoever.

So are we merciful to others, even if they mistreat us? Even if they misjudge us?

You see, that takes it up to the level of a godly action. A godly action. In fact, if we flip back to Micah... Sorry, I should have had you hold your place there. Micah, chapter 7, before the giant book of Nahum, after Jonah, there it is. Micah, chapter 7, verse 18.

Notice we get some insight into God's character and how He wanted them to emulate Him. It says, Who is a god like you? So that question is, who's like God? What would your answer be if someone said that to you? Who is like God? God, who's like you? I wonder if the response that he was looking for was, I want to be like you. I want to emulate you. I want to put on your characteristics.

I want to be like God. Who's like you? Well, I'm supposed to be like you. I wonder if that's what he was thinking here. Who's like God? He says, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage. Not holding people accountable for every little thing that they do that might not quite measure up. You see, God, it says, He doesn't retain His anger forever. Why?

Because He delights in mercy. And He'll again have compassion on us. He'll subdue our iniquities. Boy, wouldn't that be great? To lessen the problems? Not to hold somebody in total account of every little thing they do. Husbands, wouldn't you like your wives to do that to you?

We'd all be divorced, I suppose, if that were the case. I'd be terrible!

You see, God says right here, you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

I think God loves mercy so much, He puts a sign out front on the shore that says, no fishing.

Right? No fishing. Can't dredge that stuff up. See, that's who is like it. We're supposed to be like that.

That God is good and upright. God loves mercy. It's not that He's just merciful, but that He loves it. That He loves mercy. How much does He love mercy? You go right in the center, the center of the congregation. What did He put? They were running all around out there in the desert for that 40 years. What was right in the center of all of the tribes?

He had the tabernacle. And what was right in the very center of the tabernacle?

He had the Holy of Holies. And what was right in the center of the Holy of Holies?

The Ark of the Covenant. And what was on the lid of that ark? The centerpiece.

The mercy seat. You see, that's how much God loves mercy. Leviticus 16 sure spells that out so much.

And so that's how important it was for God to portray that fact even to them, even to them, that it should be the center of their lives, center of the whole community, and center for every individual's life, not just the priesthood, but for everyone right at the very heart and core of their being. That's what God expected for them. Now, he also says back there in Micah that he required them to walk humbly, to walk humbly with their God. And I think part of that aspect of mercy, realizing here is God right at the heart and core of things, helps us to realize His awesomeness. You know, as that pillar of fire moved and as that cloud passed, would they have a literal representative of the awesome nature of God? Boy, it would have been right there before their eyes, constantly. Amazing! Just absolutely amazing. So is that something that we should walk humbly before, the awesome power of God, seeing these wonderful acts that He did for them time after time and time. It's amazing when you think that. And that kind of an attitude, that kind of humility, is what they were to be about as well, to not just be humble themselves, but recognize the awesome nature of God, His absolute holiness, His absolute righteousness before them. They would have that humble heart, that kind of a spirit. Of course, the prophet Isaiah talked a lot about that kind of an attitude. There's an interesting one in Psalm, I'm not Psalm, but Isaiah 57. Go over to Isaiah 57 for a moment. Verse 15. Verse 15, I really love the wording that's recorded here in Isaiah 57, 15, because it really sets the stage for this humble walk that they were to have. Isaiah 57, verse 15, it says, For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. I actually love the way that's worded. He's high, He is lofty, there's none higher, none greater, none that deserves more respect and awe than our mighty God. He inhabits eternity. That is amazing. It says His name is holy. Everything about Him is perfect and right.

It says, I dwell in the high and holy place with Him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and revive the heart of the contrite ones. I like that because we try. Israel, at times, they did their best. But it's interesting that we get a little insight into where the difference can be made up. When we fall short, we don't quite measure up. It says, With Him who has a contrite and humble spirit, it says, God revives the spirit of the humble. God wants that in us. He helps us to be rejuvenated. It says, Revive the heart of the contrite and the spirit of the humble. Isn't that amazing? That's God's purpose. That's His plan. He wants us to live with Him forever, be our God. And so He wants us to have that kind of... We wanted Israel to have that kind of a walk before Him. And He gave them that opportunity to choose that holy path, that righteous path. In fact, back in 2 Chronicles...

Maybe we turn over there. I think it's in chapter 7.

Chapter 7, yeah, that's where it is. 2 Chronicles 7, verse 12.

Here at the dedication of the temple, this is the time frame when Solomon finally builds the temple from all the materials that his father David had collected. And as they were dedicating that temple, some amazing things were prayed, were said, the commitment of the people. It was really an astonishing time when you really look at what happened during that time.

And in verse 12, God is appearing before Solomon as the temple is being dedicated.

And notice what God says to Solomon. He says, I've heard your prayer, and I've chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. Or what kind of sacrifice? Well, let's read on. Verse 13. He says, When I shut up heaven, and there's no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people... Oh, great. There's going to be trouble. You mean it's not all the land flowing with milk of honey? You know, it means that life is going to hand us some difficulties sometimes. Yeah, that's the nature of life. That's the nature of life. But even in those times, God says, verse 14, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, turn from their wicked ways. God says, I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and heal their land. You know, God isn't the big bad god of the Old Testament, is he? Here we find Jesus Christ Himself, the one who would become Christ, telling them, He will hear. He looks to those that humbly come before Him, and understand His high and lofty nature, the one who inhabits eternity. And Israel was supposed to understand those things.

And so, when they did this, what happened to them? Oh, things went pretty good. He had a good king that followed these regulations, these rules, these laws were humbled before God. Things went pretty well. But when they didn't, well, we see the consequences to that sort of thing.

So, as we look at those three things that God required, it's interesting, those weren't instead of the sacrifices. Those were supposed to be in conjunction with the sacrifices, with them.

They were supposed to be the attitude of the people, the approach of the people. They were supposed to do justly. They were supposed to love mercy. They were supposed to walk humbly, as well as all of the other statutes that God gave them. They were supposed to work together, so that they could see the big picture. So, they could understand God's nature that much more thoroughly, and develop a relationship with Him. Now, as you think about those things, as it applies to us, what about us? What does God require of us?

Now, there's still some of those kinds of things that we have to do. Would that be fair to say?

Would it be fair to say that, well, we're supposed to keep this abbot? Yeah, I think that's fair to say. You know, are we supposed to eat pork? Oh, no, we're not supposed to do that. There are certain things that we still have to do. Now, we might think, well, God requires that Sabbath-keeping, and that's going to make me right with God. Or, as long as I don't eat any clams or shrimp, I'm going to be okay. As long as I keep the Holy Days, as long as I come to church, everything else will fall in order. Is that right? Is that the approach that we have to have?

If that's all that we do, have we really done what God requires?

Sometimes we could get off in that ditch if we're not careful. You might just write down Luke 1710. It talks about simply doing those kinds of things, and yet God says that if that's where we're at, we're still unprofitable servants. It's not profitable if we have that point of view. So does keeping the Sabbath save us? No, it doesn't. It doesn't at all. Of course, you might say, well, okay, then I don't have to do it. Well, wait a second. That's not right. All right, we know. Hebrews chapter 10. New Testament, New Covenant. What does it say? Verse 25.

Don't forsake assembling yourselves together. Period. That's what some people do, and that is not right. It's unacceptable before God. We must come together on the Sabbath. He tells us in Ephesians 5 that we're to redeem the time. What better way to redeem the time on the Sabbath than to meet together with His people? It's a tremendous time for spiritual growth. If we're going to grow spiritually, we've got to honor the Lord of the Sabbath. Right? What day is Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath? We honor Him on the Sabbath. When we're absent, are we redeeming the time? Are we really making the most of our time? Do we really believe that our absence is what God wants for us? Or do we need to be here? I think there is a connection between a lackadaisical attitude, of shrugging of the shoulders that has a connection to our spiritual growth.

I think there is a connection to really being committed for not together, when we need to be together, when He says it's a commanded assembly, when He says, don't forsake being together.

How can we be a close fellowship? How can we really, truly do the things that God wants us to do?

God's pretty clear. It's essential that there are, if you want to call them, these rituals that we have to do. God ordained for us these things, didn't He? But if we think it's just good enough to do those things, then we fall into the other ditch.

We get in trouble that way. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 7 describes this. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 7, because we can look pretty good.

It seems like everything's okay. Well, if I come and I show up, boy, I'm right with God. As long as I don't eat those bad things, I'm okay with God. As long as I have that kind of an approach, things are good. But clearly, 2 Corinthians 10 and 7, it says, do you look at things according to the outward appearance? That's a good question to ask at this time of the year, because if I'm honest with myself, I'd say, yeah, I do. That is a problem I have.

As a human being, don't we all have that problem? I think in a way we do. We look at the outside, we look at the exterior, because that's what's seen. But we know that's not where God looks.

It says, if anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ, even so we are Christ. In a sense, what Paul is saying here is, you think these phony apostles are in Christ? Well, we are too. And we all have to step back and take a look at ourselves. It's kind of the point of this section, as Paul is correcting the Corinthian church here to really have a deeper insight.

I think that's such a challenge in our world, in our Facebook world, in our Twitter world. We want to get everything into 144 characters or 140 characters or less, and that must say it all.

It doesn't work that way. We become so superficial. God, at this time of the year, wants us to step back and dig deep and really look down at the heart of the matter. Look at our own hearts, because God does require some things of us. And it's so much more than just what's on the outside. We can clean up pretty good on the outside. We do clean up pretty good. But what about the inside? And that's where Micah comes into play. For us today to do justly, are we acting toward God in the way that He is the ultimate judge? He's the ultimate justice. He's the justice of the Supreme Court of Heaven. Are we acting toward God the way that we should? There's that scary passage. I often think of it in Matthew 7.21, where it says, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. So it's certainly got to be so much more than what's on the outside, doesn't it? It has to be more than that.

Look at Romans chapter 1, verse 16. Romans 1.16, as Paul writes to God's people in Rome, I think he brings home an important lesson for all of us.

For all of us. Because there are sure ways that we need to come before the ultimate judge and take a reckoning of ourselves, to look at ourselves and see if we really are measuring up in the way that we should. You know, are we doing the things of the law the way that we should? Are we going beyond the outward appearance to make sure that that's an inner change in every one of us?

I was reading the other day. It was the story of Judge Roy Bean. You talk about coming to the judge. You've heard of Roy Bean. You know, before he got out to Texas, there was no law west of the Pecos, and so he became the law, and he set up his courtroom, kind of bar room, I guess you could say, combination courtroom, bar room. He proclaimed it, you know, the law. I think he had a sign up that said something like, he was a notary public justice of the peace and the law west of the Pecos. That's who he was, and he was known as the hanging judge. So if you could avoid coming to him, I think one of his quotes is, I've got to think of it, hang him first, try him later. That was one of his quotes. Now, that's not the kind of guy you'd like to come before. I think one of the other things he used to say was, you'll get a fair trial followed by a first-class hanging. So that's pretty rough justice if you want to come before him. But fortunately, that's not the kind of judge that we come before. We had come before the different kind of a judge. Romans chapter 1, look at verse 16, he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God to salvation, for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek. For it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it's written, the just shall live by faith. So here you have this wonderful combination of law and faith. And God's law has to be something that we are accomplishing in our lives, but it has to go so much deeper than just an outward doing. So it's got to go beyond just showing up on the Sabbath. It's got to be who we are. It's got to go beyond just serving to really becoming a Christ-like servant. And that's not something we do, but who we are.

That's doing justly. That's who we are, not just what we do. And God is so interested in who we are.

And so we've got to make sure that we're accomplishing those things before God, and then we're putting them into practice with each other. And not just the church, but all that we come in contact with. Because that doing justly also includes our fellow man, doesn't it? I mean, there's a great passage in Ephesians 4. Look at Ephesians 4.25. God is great because as He inspires His Word, He just doesn't say, don't do this. And leave us today, okay, well, what am I supposed to do then? I'm not supposed to do this. How am I supposed to act? Well, that's where Ephesians 4.25 is pretty amazing, because God does contrast these two things in this section about doing the normal everyday things of human nature versus spiritual things. And He contrasts those, and He says, here they are. This is the normal things, but here's the way that you can overcome. Look at Ephesians 4.25. He says, you must put away lying. Okay, don't lie. What do I have to do? Well, let each of you speak truth. Speak truth. Remember how that word truth tied in with justice and judging rightly and doing justly? Speak truthfully. He says, we are members of one another. Don't forget. We're all in this together, He says. All right, sometimes we get a little upset. He says, be angry, but don't sin.

Don't sin. Or maybe a better translation, in your anger, don't sin. Boy, is that a tough one, because we all want to say, no, I'm not angry. It's righteous indignation.

Probably not very often, right? Probably not very often. So he says, why, verse 27, don't give place to the devil. Don't give the devil a foothold. You know what happens when that salesman gets his foot in the door? Hard to get rid of him. It's hard to get rid of him. So he says, don't even let him get his foot in the door. And so we've got a problem of greed. We steal.

We don't give a fair day's labor. He says, well, do what's right. Let him labor, working with his hands for what's good. And it's not just a selfish thing. God says, you want to do justly?

Don't just do your duty. You've got to take it to a spiritual level.

Work so you can have something to give to him who has a need. So you're not just covering your own needs. The next spiritual level, to do justly, means we're serving and helping and giving others who are in need. So you see, that takes it beyond our own personal family to the greater family, which is a wonderful thing that we need to do. And so he makes it very clean. Let's do that. We need to share. Verse 29, we've got a problem in the way we talk. Don't let any corrupt... Don't swear, don't curse, don't let corrupt words come out of your mouth. But instead, what do I do? What is right? What is just? Say what's necessary for edification. What's helpful in building each other up?

Because boy, when you look at me, there's lots of things to criticize. But he says, take it easy on each other. You'll find what's good. Encourage. Build each other up. It says, according to their needs, according to their needs, the necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Boy, when you've had a rough time, you're going through a trial, you're going through a difficulty, and people really understand and they care. The right word at the right time can make so much difference. And you think, well, that's nothing. But you know, sometimes it's everything. It's everything. Just the right word at just the right time. And what a beautiful benefit that is when we do that. Otherwise, he says, we're grieving the Holy Spirit. We're letting God down. If we claim to be sealed, it says, for the day of redemption. So he says, here, get rid of these things. We know the list. We can put our own list together. What do we have to get rid of?

Might not hurt to write some of those things down. Remind ourselves. Pray about those things. Strive to overcome. Because he gives the solution here. Verse 32, be kind to one another.

Be tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God and Christ forgave you. We have the ultimate example, the ultimate justice. God doesn't give us what we deserve, does he? And so we're to emulate that. We're to do justly. Of course, if we're going to be just, then we've got to be merciful. Ties in with it as well. Did you notice how much mercy is exhibited in these passages? If we're supposed to edify others, we're supposed to build them up, we're supposed to forgive them, we're supposed to be tender heart. All those things have this amazing connection to being merciful, to being compassionate, to being warm-hearted, to being just a genuinely nice person.

That sounds kind of easy, but sometimes it's really hard. It's really hard, but God, that's what He wants. It's taking it to that next level, isn't it? It's taking it to the next level. That's where God, taking it to the spirit of the law, taking it to the spirit of the law. You could write down Luke 6, verse 32. That's that famous passage about loving those that love you. God says, well, God says, well, what good credit is that? You're giving your credit for that? It's easy to love people that love you, but on the other hand, you know, the spiritual letter is to love your enemies.

Love your enemies? Wow! That's a tough one. But, you see, sometimes we fall into that category that we are literally an enemy of God because of the way we think. We're an enmity against Him, aren't we? Our normal, everyday, carnal way of thinking is absolutely opposed to God. And so He says, that's unacceptable. So we've got to get rid of that and love, love others. It helps us to be more Christ-like, doesn't it? Because God's loving. He's caring. He's, in fact, at the end of that section, says we are to be merciful because the Father is merciful. We're emulating our Father, which is a wonderful thing. So that's what God expects of us. In fact, it's interesting, in James 3, verse 13, I will turn over there. Take a look at James 3, 13.

Another one of those passages that I have to step back and go, oh no, another question for me.

Take a look how James begins this section in James 3, verse 13. He poses one of those insightful questions that kind of dig down into our very being. He says, who is wise and understanding among you? You think you got it together? You think you're wise? You think you're understanding? Well, what's the evidence of that? What's the evidence of that?

He says, let him show by good conduct that his works are done in meekness of wisdom.

Meekness of wisdom. But if you have better envy and self-seeking in your hearts, don't boast and lie against the truth. You know, what's down inside? What's deep down inside?

It made me think of this story I'd heard about. Actually, it's a historical, I don't know if it's a fact or not, but there's a historian named Suetonius. He was recording something interesting about Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar got kidnapped as a young man, and these pirates got a hold of him.

And they had him for quite a while. They taught him, they played games with him, they even supposedly read poetry to him. Basically, he lived in this, I guess you could say, pirate community with them. But it's interesting that the historian said that at one point Julius Caesar smilingly swore that he would one day become free and have them crucified.

Well, guess what? He eventually got out of there, eventually became emperor, and guess what happened? He did carry out his threat, rounded them all up, but he decided to show mercy to them. Do you know what his mercy was that he showed? He cut their throats before he hung them up. That's not mercy, is it? I mean, that's amazing when you think about that.

Is that bitter envy? Is that the self-seeking? Is that the lying against the truth? You know, I wonder how many times we crucify others. On the outside, we can appear very nice, very sweet, very genuine. And yet, on the inside, that bitterness, that selfishness, it's still there.

But if we're to be wise, if we're to be understanding, we've got to love mercy. And it's got to be evidenced not only what's on the outside, but really what's on the inside. Because, you know, our normal way of thinking? Our everyday way of thinking? Verse 15, it says, this wisdom isn't from above. It's earthly. It's sensual. It's demonic. He labels it for what it is. He says, well, there's envy, self-seeking. He says, confusion and every evil thing are there.

But see, on the other hand, here's what we're to put on. We're to put on purity. God's way of thinking. God's wisdom. It says, first purity, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy. See, that's what no hypocrisy, that's what James says. Not a bit of hypocrisy there at all.

And so we see that genuine nature of peacefulness, sowing peace. That's what real mercy is all about.

So that's what he wants us to strive to make more a part of who we really are, to really make that a part of our character, to be more Christ-like in that thinking.

And if that's the way we begin to think, how can it help but flow into being humble?

To be walking humbly with God would almost naturally follow, it seems, to really be obedient to what God wants for us, what His will really is. And isn't that what it comes down to a lot of times? You know, God, I know you want me to do this, but this is what I'm thinking. Is that covered okay? I mean, oftentimes we fall into that way of thinking. 1 John 1.5, I think, deals with that a little bit. Take a look at 1 John 1.5, because it really sets the level of what God wants us to attain. 1 John 1 chapter 1 John 1, verse 5, here right at the very beginning of John's first epistle.

He talks about how can we walk humbly. How is that possible to do? Is it possible? Can we really accomplish that? He says, This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. All right, there's the ultimate goal.

What about us? He says, If we say we have fellowship with Him and we walk in the darkness, we lie. We don't practice the truth. Aha! Now my goal is I'm going to put truth into practice.

And it's just the truth is tying into all these things, whether it's doing justly, whether it's loving mercy, whether it's being humble before God. Truth has to come into it. Our God is truth. He is light. Verse 7, If we walk in the light, as He's in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. What a great reminder we have at this time of the year. We commemorate that again at the Passover, don't we? We recommit ourselves. We rededicate ourselves to the goal of having no darkness in us at all, to continue to grow in grace and knowledge, to continue to walk in the light, to continue to be found in Him, to be still standing, to be still standing. You know, not our will, but God's will.

So that means we've got to be humble and fulfill those requirements of studying God's Word, listening to Him. If we don't listen to the way we're supposed to go, how would we know?

So we study. We study. We listen to God and what He says. We should desire that pure Word. Right? Is that 1 Peter 2? 2. Desire. Do we really want that? So we listen to God. Of course, we also have to talk to God. We've got to be praying. We've got to pray for God's guidance. We've got to pray for His direction. We've got to pray for His strength, not just for ourselves, but for each other. And we've got to praise and honor Him for the blessings, seeing those blessings, even in the difficulties and challenges that we're faced. We can do that. We're told by everything, everything by prayer and supplication, everything. So we don't have to be overly worried. We don't have to be anxious. Philippians 4, 6 reminds us of that. We can tell God our needs. We can lay them before Him. We can spell them out in every detail. God hears us, and we bring it before Him.

He loves to answer our prayers. Now, we might not answer Him the way that we want, the way that we expect, but He does promise peace. He does promise peace of mind. He does promise us an understanding that others out there don't get. They don't understand it. But God says He will guide us. He will lead us. So we can talk to Him, and we can listen to Him. And then the challenge is once the talking and the listening is done, we've got to get to the doing.

We've got to get to the walking. Walking with God. We've got to do that. We've got to have that kind of rededication that all the things that I tripped up on, I'm going to dedicate myself to perfection, because I want to be like the Father. Christ said, be perfect. Come to full spiritual maturity as my Father in heaven is perfect. That's our goal. That's what God wants for us. And so we can be imitators of God as we walk the walk, as we walk in love, as we do His will, as we are submitted to His way in everything.

That's what God wants for us. He wants to bless us so much.

And so let's remember that walk. Let's remember to do those things that really are an honor to God.

And I think it begins with that approach that we all need to have. The requirements of Micah 6, verse 8. So let's commit ourselves to doing the things that God expects and requires of us.

Let's really do justly. Let's put on the love of mercy. Let's be sure we're walking humbly before our God. Let's be committed. Let's pledge ourselves and rededicate ourselves to our awesome Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior.