What He Requires

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 282, What He Requires.

"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?" Micah 6:8.

This is perhaps the most quoted verse among all the minor prophets. And it's no wonder — because it answers, simply and powerfully, a question religion always tends to overcomplicate.

At the start of chapter 6, the people ask: what does God want from us? Sacrifices? Year-old calves? Thousands of rams? Rivers of oil? Should we even hand over our firstborn? Notice the escalation — each question more extreme than the last, as if the person assumed God needs more and more to be satisfied. And that's where Micah interrupts all of it with one line: "He has told you, O man, what is good." It's not a mystery. There's no sacrifice left to invent. God has already said what He wants.

And what He wants comes down to three things. First: do justice. Not just admiring justice from a distance, hoping things improve somewhere out in the world. It's action — treating people rightly, defending those without a voice, straightening what is bent within your own sphere of influence.

Second: love kindness. The Hebrew word here is hesed — the same steadfast, loyal love God shows toward us. It's not enough to be loyal sometimes; we're called to love that loyalty, to want to practice it toward the people around us, even when they don't return it.

And third — the most intimate of the three — walk humbly with your God. Not a single act, once a week. It's a walk. Step by step, day after day, in a posture of humility before Him.

Now, three short phrases. Easy to memorize, easy to quote in a social media post. But living all three together, at the same time, every day? That's the work of an entire lifetime. You've met people who are just but harsh, without mercy. You've met people full of mercy but without the courage for justice. You've met people who do everything right but without any humility before God. All three together — that's rare. And that is exactly what God asks for.

So today, I'm not going to ask you to live all three at once — that would be impossible to sustain even for a single day. Pick one. Justice, kindness, or humility. And take one concrete, specific action with a real person, today. Maybe it's defending someone being treated unjustly. Maybe it's forgiving someone you've held a grudge against. Maybe it's simply asking God to forgive a pride you didn't even notice you had.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.