What is GOD’s DESIRE of Us?

Micah 6: 1-8

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good,

and this is what he requires of you:

to do what is right, to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8 NLT

God’s people were to demonstrate that they were a people set apart by the way they lived in accordance with the Law given to them. Whenever Israel went astray from the laws of the Lord, there were God-appointed prophets correcting them to amend their ways or to face impending disasters or enemies as a means for them to get corrected. While God’s justice demanded punishment for their wayward lives, His mercy reached out to bring them back to His ways.

In our text today Micah the prophet asks a wayward Israel-"Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?" (Micah 6:7). For Israel the sacrifices have become a mere ritual, while they failed in doing justice, showing loving kindness and walking humbly with their God as He desired, by means of which they could be His Light to the world. But they kept failing to fulfil what God desired of them.

Yet God did not give up on them but all through the centuries He loved them like a Loving Father. In the same manner God loves the whole world and made provision for all to be made right with Him. At the right time God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to this world to be a ransom for the sins of the world. He was born in Bethlehem as prophesied byMicah (Micah 5:2). When Jesus lived on the earth, He loved people as His own and taught them how to do right, and to show kindness, and to walk humbly with God, by modelling His own life the way He taught.  The 'Sermon on the Mount' in Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7 explicitly describes how we can be just, kind, loving and humble both before men and God.

These requirements may look much more stringent than the Old Testament commandments and one may think now in the New Testament times it has become harder to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. Our redeemer God knew this and with His life on earth He set an example for the whole world—Jesus practiced whatever He preached, and He was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21). In order to put us right with God, He completed all the requirements that the Old Testament Law demanded, so that when a person put his trust in Jesus, it will be as if that person has completed the requirements of the Law. So today no one has to worry about sacrifices and rituals (which were a pointer towards the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary).  By His own sacrifice, He became the means for the forgiveness of our sins and the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) and He was raised from the dead since death had no power on Him (Romans 6:4,9; Acts 2:24)

Now we who believe in Him will be righteous by receiving His righteousness in our lives (Romans 4:24). Besides we will have the help of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father who will lead us in all the truth (John 16:13). Then we will be more than conquerors, celebrating our victory over this world in right living by acting justly, showing mercy and walking humbly with our God, which is exactly what our ever-loving God always desires of us.

Meditate on: Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. -Colossians 1:10 NLT