What sort of worship does God want? Is he at all bothered by the form of our worship, or is he looking for something else entirely?
Read: Micah 6: 6-8
God has been reminding the people of all the things he has done for them free of charge, because of his love for them…rescuing them, saving them, giving them good leaders…and then he accuses them of living in ways that completely ignore him and demonstrated how little they loved him.
The people rapidly go into default mode…let’s be more religious! If God is angry let’s do more things to show him how much we love him. For them that meant things like sacrifice (they demonstrate just how far from God they are by suggesting human sacrifice, which they have practiced while worshipping the gods of the surrounding nations). In a church context we might say “let’s improve our worship services and get involved in more church activities”.
God says, “No! Those are superficial actions that mean nothing unless they flow from hearts that are full of “goodness”. It’s not religious activity but better lives that God is looking for. God specifies three areas: doing what’s right or acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with him. These are three things that are notably absent in Judah, where there is corruption not justice, ruthlessness rather than mercy, and people are arrogantly going their own way rather than God’s.
Religious stuff can become a smokescreen behind which we try to hide just how spiritually bankrupt our relationship with God really is.
“to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”
Justice, mercy, and humility…which one do I struggle most to live out in my everyday life? Why might that be?
Pilgrim Traveller 