March 18
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
In a quick look at this passage, the requirements God asks of us may appear easy. We all want to be fair and loving with others and follow God faithfully, but on closer evaluation we are actually quite challenged. None of these obligations are effortless. They require deliberate choices with a measure of self-restraint and selflessness that do not always come effortlessly. We are born with the basic instinct of self preservation and at times we confuse a self-centered attitude with that. And it is so easy to be self-centered isn’t it? Each of us has multiple reasons to focus on self, and today’s society in many areas, certainly fosters that attitude, by encouraging our self-interested, often overindulgent behaviors. Simply watching advertisements on television makes it quite believable that “me” should come first and that we all deserve to have what we want when we want it, no matter the cost! Unfortunately, self-seeking behavior is typically at the cost of someone else’s needs.
To be able to live the way God has shown us, we must be able to take a step back and make a conscious effort to look at situations and others as God does, and consider a picture that is much bigger than what we see on the surface. Without a doubt it is difficult to take the focus away from ourselves and to be loving and kind when life is not going our way. It is not easy to be filled with mercy when we feel we have been cheated out of, or denied what we feel entitled to, and quite challenging to be loving toward others when we are suffering ourselves.
So, what can we do? We are so blessed! We have the gift of “how” right in front of us! We can follow Jesus lead on this, at times, demanding journey. Certainly it is true that Jesus’ life reveals a selflessness that few of us would ever even consider being able to attain to, but He also told us that with God all things are possible. He communicated that we are loved and that He is with us always. He has also instructed us about the necessity to love others as ourselves and our responsibility in working toward peace-full living. We have been reassured of being freely gifted by God with the ability to do exactly all of this.
Especially during this time of Lent, take a few extra minutes each day to think about how Jesus has shown by His example the way to live as God requests. Through prayer and sacrifice our spirits will be filled. Through prayer and sacrifice we will begin the journey of walking humbly with God in the lead. Through prayer and sacrifice we will come to truly understand that with some effort on our part His requirements are not out of reach. And like the buds on our Easter flowers that blossom in all their beauty on Easter morning, all our efforts will come to fruition in God's time.
Almighty God, help us to do your will and to walk humbly with you.
Copyright© 2014 Kathleen A. Matson
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
In a quick look at this passage, the requirements God asks of us may appear easy. We all want to be fair and loving with others and follow God faithfully, but on closer evaluation we are actually quite challenged. None of these obligations are effortless. They require deliberate choices with a measure of self-restraint and selflessness that do not always come effortlessly. We are born with the basic instinct of self preservation and at times we confuse a self-centered attitude with that. And it is so easy to be self-centered isn’t it? Each of us has multiple reasons to focus on self, and today’s society in many areas, certainly fosters that attitude, by encouraging our self-interested, often overindulgent behaviors. Simply watching advertisements on television makes it quite believable that “me” should come first and that we all deserve to have what we want when we want it, no matter the cost! Unfortunately, self-seeking behavior is typically at the cost of someone else’s needs.
To be able to live the way God has shown us, we must be able to take a step back and make a conscious effort to look at situations and others as God does, and consider a picture that is much bigger than what we see on the surface. Without a doubt it is difficult to take the focus away from ourselves and to be loving and kind when life is not going our way. It is not easy to be filled with mercy when we feel we have been cheated out of, or denied what we feel entitled to, and quite challenging to be loving toward others when we are suffering ourselves.
So, what can we do? We are so blessed! We have the gift of “how” right in front of us! We can follow Jesus lead on this, at times, demanding journey. Certainly it is true that Jesus’ life reveals a selflessness that few of us would ever even consider being able to attain to, but He also told us that with God all things are possible. He communicated that we are loved and that He is with us always. He has also instructed us about the necessity to love others as ourselves and our responsibility in working toward peace-full living. We have been reassured of being freely gifted by God with the ability to do exactly all of this.
Especially during this time of Lent, take a few extra minutes each day to think about how Jesus has shown by His example the way to live as God requests. Through prayer and sacrifice our spirits will be filled. Through prayer and sacrifice we will begin the journey of walking humbly with God in the lead. Through prayer and sacrifice we will come to truly understand that with some effort on our part His requirements are not out of reach. And like the buds on our Easter flowers that blossom in all their beauty on Easter morning, all our efforts will come to fruition in God's time.
Almighty God, help us to do your will and to walk humbly with you.
Copyright© 2014 Kathleen A. Matson