What the Lord Requires.....Day 1

As I have watched the TV news in the last few weeks, I have seen our nation in its most ugly presentation of who we should NOT be as a people...and all in the name of social justice as we seek to "fix" the social and racial ills that have long since plagued us as a country.  Many people have waved the banner of Micah 6:8 as a rallying cry. So I took some time to research the Old Testament Scripture and some of its various translations. Like these>>>>>>>>

1)  New International Version
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
2)  Contemporary English Version
The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God."

3)  Good News Translation
No, the LORD has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God.

4)  NET Bible
He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God.

5)  GOD'S WORD® Translation
You mortals, the LORD has told you what is good. This is what the LORD requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God.

6)  Holman Christian Standard Bible
Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

If you read these different interpretations, it might make your head start to spin; I know it did mine; however, I think there are some common denominators that we should explore. Of course, this may take a couple of blogs to sort out....so stick with me for the next couple of days and let's see if we can TRULY uncover the truths that are at the core of this passage.

Today,  let's begin with what the first line has to say about "good" or "right"...the first line reads as, " You mortals, the LORD has told you what is good. This is what the LORD requires from you:" Notice that 5 of the 6 Scriptures cited here use the word "good" while one uses the word "right"  ...and for me, I think there is a big difference in the use of these words.

Doing what is right, unfortunately, is too often held to be true in the eye of the beholder; therefore, it often varies from one person to another. The right thing to do is too often the most expedient thing to do. All you have to do is turn on your TV and there are hundreds of pundits clamoring for us as Americans "to do the right thing" and fix the ills of our country. Problem is...none of us can come to any consensus on what the problems are, much less agree on what is right and how to fix them.

But to do what is "good" has a scriptural basis for the Word of God tells us in no uncertain words that GOD IS GOOD!  In Psalm 34, David encourages the reader "to taste and see that the Lord is good."

When the rich young ruler calls Jesus good, Jesus responds to say, "Why do you call me good? There is NO ONE GOOD BUT GOD ALONE."  Luke 18:19 (my emphasis) In fact, most of the Book of Psalms is written to extol the goodness of God, to allow us to know Him, to teach us how to worship Him and how to be thankful for His goodness.

Each of the Scriptures listed above tell us that God has made it a point to tell us what is good...and He has given us a living example in the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. We do not have to look for the good of or in this world. As believers, we have an eternal example of what goodness is and how we are to implement goodness in our world...WE ARE TO BE LIKE JESUS!!!! We are to demonstrate that God is indeed GOOD, shown in our good works that reflect the goodness of God...for in simple truth, if we were left to our devices to do good, nothing  really good would ever be done.

Here's what I mean.....Goodness done for reward, repayment or recognition is not doing good...it's giving to get and that is not goodness.  God is good because He gave sacrificially!  He gave His most precious gift, His only Son,  without any thought of gain or repayment....He gave because HE LOVED....and the only thing He asked in return is that we accept His great gift so that we might be reborn as a child of His....now and for eternity.

GOD IS GOOD BECAUSE THAT IS HIS NATURE....But that is not the only nature of our true, righteous and holy God....so come back tomorrow and let's continue to see exactly what God requires of each of us from this so often misunderstood verse.

Seeking to be Good ...To Be Like Jesus,

WPQ