The Meaning of It All in Three Complex Words

Day 202: Micah 5-7

That last post was a bold one for me, and I'm still in my initial thinking about these things, but thanks for all your feedback. What great thoughts all of you have.

The reading for today contains a verse that spells out so clearly what God wants of us. You are probably familiar with it, too. Micah 6:8b says, "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"

Justice, mercy, and humility. There it is, all spelled out in three words.

And all of those terms coincide so much with my thoughts in the last post. He requires us to act justly, to treat others as we would want to be treated. To help those weaker than us--in whatever way that means. He also wants us to "love mercy." Wow, to do something good for someone who can't do it for themselves. To be compassionate and sympathetic but to also take action by forgiving, forgetting, loving, and doing all those other things God does for us. Finally, God wants us to show humility in our walk with God. He wants us to remember that we don't have it all figured out and that we shouldn't judge people for them not having it figured it either. Seeking humility about all else. Putting others above ourselves. Not judging harshly or condemning people for their beliefs, viewpoints, or actions.


These words, though "simple" in the traditional sense, are complex concepts that we could all do better exploring their meaning and application for ourselves and our communities.

Planning Our Own Course

Day 165: Jeremiah 10-16

Jeremiah 10:23-25. Hear the words of Jeremiah, the prophet:

"I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die."

This passage is interesting to me for a variety of reasons. The first sentence ("I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.") speaks true to me. This life I have is a gift; the lives we all have are gifts--gifts from the Lord. He decides when we live and when we die, and he is in control, literally, of our lives.

The second sentence, however, doesn't ring quite so true to me. We are able to plan our own course. We decide where we live, what we do with our lives, how we raise our children. We decide whether we go to church and, if so, where we go. We decide how we treat people, what sins we commit, and how we love. We are in control of many aspects of our lives.

So, what else might Jeremiah be saying in this sentence? He could be talking about predestination. Many church faiths believe that God has called people--a select few--before the creation of the world, and that those few are already predestined to follow God. My religious faith does not believe this principle. We believe that anybody can become a child of God. Perhaps God already knows who will make the decision to follow Him, but he allows us to make this choice rather than pre-selecting it for us. I tend to agree with my church heritage because I believe in free will.

So what else could he be saying? If you look at it within the context of Israel--the people who was selected by God to be his people--then it seems that we could also read this passage from that of a people who are already committed to the Lord. For these people--people who want to live a life committed to the Lord--then many of the decisions are determined by God's words to us, his instructions on how we should live, how we should treat people, and how we can become more like Christ in our daily lives. When we look at that sentence through this lens, then we can read it differently. Our decision to become a Christian and our decision to commit to God should, theoretically, lead us to give our lives away. Less of self and more of thee. We no longer make our own decisions; instead, the decisions we make are shaped and formed by our decision to live a life for the Lord. Wow. How amazing is that!

And the last part, verse 24, is so human. Jeremiah says, "So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die." Have you ever prayed a prayer like that? For God to be gentle and kind, rather than harsh and angry? Have you prayed for God to "correct you"? Perhaps we can see more about how kingdom life by reading these words. More about humanity. More about our Lord. More about ourselves and the plans we have for our lives.

God Speaks...and He Doesn't Say What I Think He's Going to Say

Day 103: Job 38-42

"Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm..."

This is how chapter 38 opens. Job is in his "storm." He is in the depths of despair. He is at his worst moment. And God comes to Job at his worst moment. Interesting.

The rest of what God says really surprises me; it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting some compassion; some understanding; some empathy. But that's not what God begins with. He basically tells Job that is his bigger than Job. He is the creator of the world and the sustainer of humankind and no human can do all that God does, not even Job. And God is sure to point to Job that He is God and Job is not.

Wow. Is that how God would respond to me? Although we honor and fear God today, we still feel a sense of entitlement in how we talk to God. We are honest with him. We ask him why he's making us go through negative times. We blame him for unhappy or hard times we may experience. We basically do what Job does. And now we should listen to what God says to Job. We are not God. God is God, and we should be mindful of this point. Go read these passages and be reminded about who God is. I wonder if you will be as humbled (and surprised) as I am. 

In spite of how the Lord responds to Job, He admonishes Job's friends for not speaking rightly of Him. He then tells them that Job is the one who has spoken correctly about him.

The Lord then gave Job half as much as he had before, and Job was comforted by his friends and family. The Lord then blessed the latter half of Job's life more than the first half, and Job died a full life.

America, America

Day 18: Exodus 18 to 21

In the reading for today, God continues to develop his relationship with Moses. Moses and God seem to be pretty tight, particularly because Moses obeys God and fears him. They have several conversations and Moses functions as the go-between between God and Israel. In a way, Moses foreshadows Jesus. Although Moses is by no means Jesus, Moses serves some of the same function as Jesus does, particularly in terms of speaking to the people.

I really admire Moses. He seems like a great guy who lives his life trying to do the right thing. He’s also the one that God entrusted to take His laws to the Israelite people, laws which included the Ten Commandments.

As I was reading the Ten Commandments tonight, I was struck by how these laws don’t seem so much like “God’s laws” per se as they do laws of human nature, natural laws. It seems that these laws make our world better, no matter in what religion you believe. For instance, the law of Sabbath is not so much about religious practice as it is about the need for humans to rest and reflect so we can function better and be more at one with God, ourselves, and others. In addition, when we have no other gods except the one true God, we realize what other things in our life take up the space that God should hold. These laws, if we follow them, lead us to a greater and fuller existence. One where we sacrifice ourselves for God and for others.

In the United States, we have all these debates about whether or not we should put the Ten Commandments up in our courtrooms, our schools, or our parks. Although I understand why some want to fight so that the Ten Commandments remain in these places so that we can see them and so that our society can be ruled by the, first, we must understand that these commandments are already natural law—whether they’re in government buildings or not.

For me, I don’t think it’s so important that we fight for the Ten Commandments to remain in these places. Rather, I think it’s more important for us to live our lives by following them.

Not killing.

Not coveting.

Not stealing.

Not lying.

Not having other gods.

Not making idols for ourselves.

Not committing adultery.

Not cursing God.

Honoring our parents and grandparents.

And resting and reflecting on God and His word.

If we write these laws on our hearts, we don’t need to see them in government buildings to know what they say. The true testament of our faith isn’t that we’re fighting for them to be written in print; the true testament of our faith is how we live out our lives. Do we obey God and follow the laws that He has established for us—laws that are meant to protect us and not to hurt us? Or do we focus more of our time on trying to preserve an America that probably never existed in the first place rather than truly reflecting and meditating on the laws themselves.

If we live our lives according to the laws, America might see God in us; but if we spend too much energy fighting for the preservation of the laws in our buildings, then they may never see what’s truly inside our hearts.

Regardless, God is in control.