GOD'S REQUIREMENTS

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" - Micah 6:8

We live in a world of requirements.  When a child is born, a birth certificate is required.  Later, the child is required to have specific inoculations before he is permitted to attend school.  While he is in school, the child is expected to meet or exceed specific requirements before promotion. 

Once he gets to the required age, he must meet certain requirements before getting a driver's license.  He must meet or exceed specified requirements before graduating from high school.  If he attends college, numerous requirements must be met before a college will permit him to enroll.  Then he must meet more stringent requirements before earning a degree.  The college graduate must meet certain requirements before getting a job.  Once he has the job, he must meet or exceed requirements before he advances in his career.

All these requirements seem overwhelming at first glance, but it takes over 20 years to meet them.  Proper planning, self discipline and hard work will help a person meet these requirements.

Most of us never consider that God has requirements that we must meet.  We are so busy trying to meet the requirements set by others that we fail to consider that God Himself requires certain things of us. 

In Micah 6:8, God lists the things He requires of us:  "... what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"  Notice three requirements that God sets:

1.  DO WHAT'S RIGHT

First of all, we are expected to do what is right.  The Bible says, "... what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly..."  Perhaps you think you are meeting this requirement.  Every day you probably make decisions that you think are right.  We need to heed the caution from the book of Proverbs:  "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."  God does not require that you do the things that you consider to be right, but instead, you are required to do the things that He knows to be right.  

2.  TREAT OTHERS RIGHT

The second requirement of the Lord is to treat others right.  We are told to "... love mercy..."  We are expected to treat others the way we want to be treated.  The word, "mercy," indicates that we do not seek revenge or judgment on others.  We are expected to treat others with kindness and grace.  These days, people are committing acts of violence in the name of "racial equality," or "social justice."  Still others are quick to speak unkind words because of political differences.  Americans are far from being kind one toward another.  In fact, we are living in a scary world. 

3.  WALK WITH GOD

Finally, God expects us to walk humbly with Him.  There is a difference between going to the house of God and walking with God.  Religion is much different than righteousness.  It isn't difficult to find someone who is willing to share his or her religious views.  It is a far different thing to find someone who is actually walking with God day by day. 

As we ponder God's requirements, here's what we need to know.  We don't measure up to God's requirements.  The Bible states, "For all have sinned and come short ..."  We always fall short of God's requirements.  How can we ever measure up?  We never can.  In fact, we have no righteousness whatsoever. 

Here's the good news, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ.  Through His death upon the cross, Jesus met the Father's requirements on our behalf.  He did what we could not do.  There is a false teaching that goes like this:  We do our best and God makes up the difference.  Here's the Biblical truth:  we have NOTHING good to bring.  Jesus does EVERYTHING for us because we are morally and spiritually bankrupt on our own.

When we repent of our sins and trust Jesus alone for salvation, His righteousness is imputed to our case.  He doesn't dilute His righteousness with ours.  We are saved by His righteousness alone.  On the cross, Jesus met the requirements that we could never reach.

Now as followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit resides within us.  As we permit the Spirit to fill us, the fruit of the Spirit is exhibited in and through our lives.  In a very overt way, He enables us to do what is right, treat others right and walk humbly with the Father. 

We don't have to live with worry from day to day about meeting the requirements of God.  We simply should allow the indwelling Spirit to demonstrate the requirements that Jesus has already met for us.

What a joy to walk in the Spirit!