Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is. This is what he wants from you: Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God.
I remember growing up and being kind of a mischievous kid. I am the oldest of four children and I can recall my mother pleading with us, “Would you just be good?!?” Sometimes I wonder if God is pleading with us as His children, “Would you just be good?!?” The good news for us is that God has told us how to be good.
The Old Testament prophet Micah, in a pretty famous passage of Scripture, tells us what it means to be good. In our verse for today, Micah says that God wants us to be fair to other people, love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey Him. Two of these three expectations have to do with how we relate to other people. The final expectation has to do with how we relate to our Creator.
Obeying God demands humility from us. You must humble yourself to fully obey the Lord. The book of Philippians says that Jesus “humbled himself by being fully obedient to God,” (Philippians 2:8). Obedience requires humility.
For followers of Jesus living in the 21st century, this means that we must remember that we are not God. God is God, and He has the final say. His Word is our standard for living. We come before Him in total humility, because He is God and He is holy. Friend, if you really want to obey God, you have to be humble.
By Shawn Cornett, Bible League International staff, Indiana U.S.
