Simple Faith in Action
With what shall I come to the LORD
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the LORD take pleasure in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, mortal one, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6–8 NASB)
I recently got reacquainted with an ancient prophet named Micah. Micah had a deep suspicion of phony religion. He saw greed in the hearts of the leaders of the kingdom of Judah, which prompted him to warn the common folk not to be deceived by religious pretense among nobility. In true prophetic style, Micah comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. He condemned sin. He exposed performance-based piety. He championed the cause of the oppressed. He predicted the fall of the nation. And he did it all at the risk of his own life.
But Micah didn’t just denounce and attack, leaving everyone aware of the things he despised but none of the things he believed. Negative, ultra-zealous preaching can lead people to wonder what they should do, since they hear only warnings and tirades of condemnation. Not so with Micah.
Like rays of brilliant sunlight piercing charcoal-colored clouds after a storm, the prophet saved his best words for a positive message to the people. Immediately on the heels of the Lord’s indictment of His people—about the time many must have begun to wonder what they had to do to make things right—Micah told them, and I am pleased to say that he did it with simplicity.
Micah’s words state exactly what many, to this day, wonder about pleasing God. Teachers and preachers have made it so sacrificial, so complicated, so extremely difficult. To them, God is virtually impossible to please. Therefore, religion has become a series of long, drawn-out, deeply painful acts designed to appease this peeved Deity in the sky who takes delight in watching us squirm.
Micah erases the things on the entire list, replacing the complicated possibilities with one of the finest definitions of simple faith. Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with your God.
Taken from Simple Faith by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1991, 2003 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
