Weekly Devotion

January 31 2020

Devotional by Tim Atwood
Micah 6:1-8 (NIV)

Listen to what the LORD says: “Stand up, plead My case before the mountains; let the
hills hear what you have to say. Hear, you mountains, the LORD’s accusation; listen, you
everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people; He is lodging a
charge against Israel. My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer
me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to
lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and
what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you
may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”
“With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I
come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with
thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
“He has shown you, O mortal, 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.”
Micah 6:8 has become one of those feel good passages that we paint on our walls,
engrave in steel, have on our screen savers, and keep on bookmarks along with other ‘famous’
verses like Joshua 24:15 – “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord,” and others like
Matthew 7:7, Hebrews 16:19, Psalm 17:4, Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28. We like these
signature verses that give us hope and direction. God tells us to keep His Word hidden in our
hearts and to post them on the door post of our homes so that we remember and obey so there is
nothing wrong with putting your favorite verse in a prominent place. And as you memorize
scripture it is very helpful to put your verse on your mirror or on the fridge, so you see it several
times a day.
But a feel-good verse by itself is not the answer to what is ailing the church today. We
have possibly simplified Christianity to a few verses we like and have forgotten the context. In
Micah 6, God is chastising the people for having forgotten what He has done for them and the
prophet answers back – “What do You want from us?”
Sound familiar? We all have our journey with Christ and in His church that is unique and
different. And when we come together, we should be calling out to the mountains and to anyone
who will listen telling them what God has done for us.
We live in a post-Christian culture where the church is dwindling and now we find
ourselves on the precipice of another denominational split and when we look to God for the
answers we wonder – “What do You want from us?”
The answer is almost as simple as putting the beloved verse on the wall but we must vow
to live by it, to let it permeate our being and transform our ways so that when the world sees us,
when the world hears us, they will listen and respond to the loving grace of God.
The church is more than holding onto our heritage, our name, or our buildings. The
church needs to get busy doing the commands we love and cherish. Do you act justly, love
mercy and walk humbly? Have you led your congregations to embrace doing what is right even
when no one is looking not wanting accolades and not judging others because they are not living

right like you are? Do your people love others and share God’s grace and mercy to everyone,
even if they look and act different than we do? And do we walk humbly drawing attention not to
ourselves but to God and only God to bring glory to who He is and what He has done?
To live by Micah 6:8 we must first repent and renew and rejoice in God again so that we
embrace His work in our lives and let the world know that He is the One who is eternally right,
He is the One who is full of grace and mercy and He is the One who humbly gave His own Son
to die in our place so that we might have an abundant and eternal relationship with Him. What a
great God we serve and what a great time to be a servant in the church to point the world to our
Savior.
Prayer: Lord, empty me of any preconceived ideas or wrong theology that takes my
focus off of You. Use me to shout to the mountains, to proclaim to Your church and to live in my
community as one changed, as one who is a new creation in Christ ready to act like You, to love
like You and to walk humbly every day. AMEN.