What God Really Wants

Read Micah 6-7
 
Micah 6:6-8 What can we bring to the Lord? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? 8 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.
 
WHEN our soul is in conflict with God, our nature is to attempt to make peace with God in many ways that come from our desires. Sometimes our “peace” is to ignore him. If we don’t know the right way, then we can go our own way. Often we fill the “God gap” in our lives with some form of idol worship – material goods, food, busyness or casual “friends”. Excess seems to be a formula to fill an empty life.
   Israel’s national soul was separated from God. One way Israel sought God’s approval was to offer extra sacrifices. Yes, God required various sacrifices in worship. But Micah portrays Israel sacrificing much more than required. They were desperate for God’s favor. They knew their sins are many; yet they rejected repentance. They hoped, instead, to satisfy God with increasingly more sacrifices on the altars. How anxious, even frantic they were to ask: “Should we offer calves, thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil,  our firstborn children to pay for our sins?”
   Can you believe this? Their idol-worshiping hearts were making God equal to the idols. Recall in their contest with Elijah how the Baal prophets did more and more to call on the lifeless god. No amount of noise could arouse a dead idol. With one word, though, Elijah called, and God destroyed the evil.
   We need to know God is too big for excess. The LORD God repeatedly reveals he is more than big enough for all our needs.
   One great tragedy in false worship through idols and cults is the emptiness that comes with doing more and more. When one believes God will only be satisfied with more effort, the work becomes our faith. We always wonder, as did Israel, “Am I doing enough?” God teaches you that you are complete in him only when your heart is loving him. From there he will show you what to do as you love mercy, live in his justice and walk humbly to submit to his will.
   God doesn’t ask you for a big display of meaningless works. He guides you to a steady faithfulness. He commands we offer kindness, live with integrity, stand up for the oppressed, and be humble. Years later, the apostle Paul echoed the prophet’s teaching. “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3)