Micah 6:5-8 (ESV)

[5] O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

[6] “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?

[7] 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?”

[8] He has told you, O man, 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?

The chapter ends with God’s indictment against his people. At the beginning of the chapter he calls creation to witness his faithfulness and their sin. He calls his people to remember his past faithfulness. He then asks the question, “What does God require of his people? His people have broken his covenant with him by bowing before other gods. What will he require to walk rightly with God?

What God requires is not what one would expect from the Law. One would expect sacrifice, but the way in which God asks the question suggests that even the sacrifice of “thousands of rams with ten thousands or rivers of oil” (Mic 6:7) would not satisfy God. One would expect that God would desire sacrifice to set things right, but what God calls his people to is justice, kindness, and humility.

We have a tendency to think of the Bible as God’s rules for life. But God’s revelation was never intended to be a rule book. It is intended to be a revelation of God’s redeeming acts to bring his creation back into right relationship with him. It is a book of relationship, not a book of rules. The rules serve a purpose. They reveal our brokenness. But ultimately God is not looking for religious rule keepers. He is looking for the humility of faith that demonstrates itself in justice and kindness toward others.

Too often we think of our Faith in the context of religion. Even when we say, “God is not interested in religion. He is interested in a personal relationship with us,” we often still live as though he is interested in religion. Following God becomes about that which we are not supposed to do. We don’t… therefore we are okay with God. God does not want a people who are religious rule keepers. He wants a people who walk humbly before him, demonstrating justice and kindness to others. He wants a people who understand grace and show that grace to a broken world. He wants true relationship that transforms a self-focused, religious people into a people of humility, justice and kindness. He wants transformed lives from the inside out, not rule keeping from the outside in. That kind of transformation can only be found in Christ.