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What God Requires

Micah 6:6-8

"What does God want from me?!" More than one frustrated seeker through the ages has asked that question. In the New Testament, the answer is in some ways simpler than in the Old. Standing between the eras, Jesus answered it this way: God wants all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30). He doesn't demand it, but He does desire it. Because sacrifice for sin was an issue in the Old Testament, giving God everything was more complicated.

By the time Micah was prophesying in the northern kingdom of Israel (late 700s B.C.), she was at her haughtiest. Wealth and power had replaced service and humility among Israel's leaders. They had decided that as long as they gave God the sacrifices He asked for, that would satisfy Him. Micah begged to differ. He held them accountable for their callousness toward the needy and their carnality toward God (Micah 3:1-3). He put words in their mouths to sarcastically reveal what they thought was important to God: Does God want burnt offerings of yearling calves, or does he want thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oil as sacrifices? Or maybe He wants my firstborn—"the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:6-8)

No, Micah replied. God only wants three things: justice, mercy, and humility (Micah 6:8). Which takes us back to Jesus' words: God just wants your heart. Sacrifices are fine, Israel, but only if accompanied by a humble heart. Today, Micah might answer a frustrated Christian questioner this way: Going to church, reading your Bible, giving your money—those are all fine, but only if motivated by a heart that belongs to God (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 13).

In the New Testament it's as easy to take Christ's final sacrifice for granted as it was for Israelites to take their sacrifices for granted. In both eras, God wants heart, soul, mind, and strength before anything else.

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