One Thing

A series on the book of Micah
Week 5 – What does the Lord require?
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Micah 6:1-16 

[In the book “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the struggle between good and evil in human nature. “Two sides of the same coin”, if you will. Similarly, Micah contrasts God’s hatred of sin but his love for sinners. In this series, we will look at both sides of God’s character and what that means for us today.]

  

Growing up, I went to church every week. Back then, we didn’t have children’s church. So as a little boy I had to find ways to entertain myself – particularly during the sermon. My most common distraction was to create “pretend battles” on the folds of my pants. Needless to say, church was just a ritual for me.

 

In this chapter, Micah wrote to the Israelites who had turned their faith into a series of meaningless rituals. To make this point, he rhetorically asked, would it please the Lord if you offered him “thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil”. Or if you “sacrifice your firstborn children to pay for your sins”.

 

He answered his own question with a resounding “NO”! And then he explained what would please the Lord.

 

⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?        ESV   

 

Unfortunately, many of the Israelites had already not only gutted their worship with mindless rituals but also turned their backs on God in rebellion. This was obvious through their actions.

 

¹⁰ What shall I say about the homes of the wicked
    filled with treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgusting practice
    of measuring out grain with dishonest measures?             NLT  

 

Continuing, Micah went on to describe how the rich used extortion and violence; how the people were so used to lying that they couldn’t discern the truth; how officials and judges took bribes. Even close friends and family weren’t to be trusted!

 

"Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God”. What would these words mean to a little boy trying to get through a sermon, or to an old man whose heard thousands of sermons? Below are two different translations of a verse in Romans that give Paul’s perspective on how to please the Lord.

 

¹ So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.        GNT

 

¹ So here’s what I want you to do, with God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.             MSG  

 

In the 1991 movie City Slickers, Curly, played by Jack Palance, told Billy Crystal’s character "Do you know what the secret of life is? It's one thing... just one thing. And that's what you've got to figure out".

 

For you and me as followers of Christ, the “one thing” is to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. If we do that, then our faith will less likely be a ritual, and more likely we’ll experience the presence of the living God.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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