He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8
When I first joined the Army in 1969 as a private, I learned what the Army expected - demanded is actually closer to it - of me and my behavior. My life was no longer my own. I won't go into details but suffice it to say I had to make some adjustments. That was the purpose of Basic Training - change my thinking as a civilian to that of a soldier. The old had passed away and all things became new.
Being a Christian is not much different really. Paul reminded the Corinthian church and us as well
... do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? - 1 Corinthians 6:19
When we were born again by faith, we surrendered our right to go our own way. God has told us - like the Army did with all new recruits - what the Lord requires of as us His own possession. - Do justly, Love mercy, And Walk humbly with God. Seems simple of enough. But why is it so hard to do. Think about this, if it came naturally with our new birth there would be no need for the admonishments throughout the Bible to be faithful to the expectation.
I am reminded of a song - Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing - Public Domain 1758
And oh to grace, how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
And let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
And here's my heart Lord, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Prone to wander - the challenge is to walk with God or go our own way - we will struggle with it until we are called home. Now, in the Army there are consequences for not complying with what the Army tells soldiers to do. The consequences are the physical sort, demotion, loss of pay, prison, discharge. The consequences with respect to our new life in Christ are of a spiritual nature and so they don't seem so daunting if you "wander". But thinking like that is what a friend of ours called "Stinkin' Thinkin'". In fact, in the extreme, if you are not concerned about your spiritual life then I might question whether you have one. Put simply - either you are not a Christian at all and therefore incapable of walking with God or you are a reprobate. That word is not use much now adays. Reprobate means that a person is morally corrupt or depraved. The Apostle Paul also wrote about Christians who live a carnal life. I will let you search that out on your own. - homework :)
Before I end this devotion allow me to run down a rabbit trail for a moment. While reading through the Book of Micah - verses 10-12 in chapter 6 got my attention.
And the short measure that is an abomination? Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales, And with the bag of deceitful weights? For her rich men are full of violence, Her inhabitants have spoken lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. - Micah 6:10-12
Just the other day I mentioned to Martie that the portions we buy in fast food restaurants are smaller than that once were, but the price has not gone down. Stated plainly - the hamburgers are getting smaller. Reread those verses again in the context of what is happening at fast food restaurants. OOK back to the devotion.
Closing thought from Hebrews 11. For context, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah are the people referenced in Hebrews 11:13 as "These all"
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ... But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. - Hebrews 11:13-14,16
And that is what God has shown us and promised us as well. As the songs goes, we are "Looking for a city, Yonder where we'll never die!"
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