"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Mic 6:8; KJV) When I see phrases like: “He has shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee”, in the Bible, I figure God is trying to get something significant across to me. So, what does the Lord require from us in this verse from the prophet Micah? To do justly is to act according to God’s divine laws and commandments.

Mercy is often translated as loving kindness and also includes the sense of faithfulness, tenderness and unfailing love. Kindness is really goodness in action; practical goodness. God said to Israel that “I will have mercy and not sacrifice” (Matt 12:7) and a cardinal command is to love: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).

In God’s word we are commanded to: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). To make ourselves low or humble seems very alien to the world’s behavior but someone once told me to look at what the world does and do the opposite.

“With the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Matt 7:2). Let’s be quick to obey, the blessings are beyond measure.