Daily Blast - Minor Prophets: Day 20
Scripture
“But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.”
Reflection
The final section of the book of Micah returns to the pattern that we have seen run through the whole book: a warning followed by hope because God is on a mission to redeem His people despite their rebellious hearts. God tells the leaders that He despises their corruption and states what He wants from His people. He wants His people “to do justice, to love mercy and walk humbly with your God” (NIV). These are the most quoted verses from the whole book, as God is telling His people Israel to change tack, to repent of their past mistakes, and instead do what they know to be right.
The book ends with hope for the future as God describes His people in terms of a person who has suffered and yet cries out to God for mercy. His people know God is ready to forgive sin and rebellion because time and time again God reveals His loving and forgiving character. Also, they know that God has made promises to restore Israel, so they remind God of His promises that He made to Abraham and his descendants long ago.
We know that God must deal with injustice and evil practices. However because of His character, God’s love and mercy are more powerful, so God finds a way to redeem and forgive us because of what Jesus has done. Micah looks forward with a prophetic voice to this future hope.
So for us today, we know that God is faithful and will fulfill His promises to forgive His people and restore our relationship with Him, despite our stubborn and rebellious hearts. He calls us to trust Him and be changed to choose what is right and just and good.
We can be confident of His loving-kindness to us, no matter what the circumstances around us
Challenge
Let’s look at areas in our lives where we allow evil and injustice to lurk. Let’s make a choice to follow God’s call to “do justice and love mercy” and humbly follow Jesus.