Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

Micah 6:1-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Hear what the Lord says:
Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord has a controversy with his people,
and he will contend with Israel.

“O my people, what have I done to you?
In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.

O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.”

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

He has told you, O mortal, 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?

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Reflect

Today is February 2nd. We recently remembered the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and are now preparing for Valentine’s Day. What an appropriate time for us to focus on today’s scripture.

Justice. Kindness. Humbleness. These are three words we want to say we strive to live by. They are actually requirements for us by God. We tend to get caught up in ourselves and what is going on in our lives. But, we need to live up to God’s standards regardless of the circumstances. It is easy to allow our lives to determine our reactions.
Justice. Right vs. Wrong. This is straightforward. We would like everything to be just. Justice means that we care about how others are treated. This is about the Have’s versus the Have Nots. Shouldn’t we care about those who are less fortunate and mistreated? Shouldn’t we care about those experiencing homelessness? Shouldn’t we care about the farmworkers? Shouldn’t we care about children being bullied? Shouldn’t we care about the elderly who have no families to care for them or money to buy food and needed medication? I could go on and on. The point is that we need to care about those in this world who do not have justice.

Kindness. Something as easy as getting cut off in traffic can set us off and an ugly reaction happens. What kind of reaction would happen if you allowed another driver to enter a street, who had been waiting on the traffic to clear? Maybe that driver would then allow another driver to enter a street. As the former paralegal for an area prosecutor, I saw people who were kind and people who were unkind. I did see mercy. I will never forget a particular case wherein a young man was murdered and his two murderers were tried and found guilty. At the sentencing, the mother of the deceased young man spoke in court. She spoke about her son, but then she spoke directly to the two young men who killed her son. She told them she forgave them and would be praying for them daily. Whoa! Talk about being a strong, Christian woman. In another case, a victim’s mother became so bitter that it consumed her life. The first mother showed mercy. If we don’t show mercy for others, it can become like a cancer and consume our every being.

Humbly. Living humbly is abiding in God. Do we have the tendency to believe God is just telling us not to be arrogant or prideful? Does it mean we should be living to seek God and his way in everything? Yes! God is God. Do we seek God in our prayer and worship? Does your prayer concentrate on your wants or what God wants for you? Does your worship concentrate on you and what you want or what God wants you to receive from it? Do you serve others or are you more concerned about yourself or what you get from serving others? If God is put first in our lives, we should be able to live humbly.

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Pray

Dear Loving Father. Help us to put you first in our lives and seek you in everything. Help us to help those who have received injustice, those who do not receive kindness, or been served with humbleness. Help us to live justly, with kindness and humbly. Amen.

Go with God!