What The Lord Requires of Man

The answer to the question, “What does the Lord require of a man?” can be found in the Old Testament book of Micah. Chapter six versus six through eight state: “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, 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.” Micah 6:6-8 NIV

It is clear from this passage that God is not interested in material things from any person. In reality, He owns it all anyway. All material and physical things are worthless in light of Salvation. Additionally, all things will be destroyed, as foretold in the Book of Revelation. David wrote in Psalm 51 concerning what God does not want from mankind: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.” Psalm 51:16 Things are inconsequential to God in light of His desire for us to act, love, and walk in our lives. Again, Micah states that we are to first to act in a just manner. So the actions of our lives must be in accordance with the Word of God, which is where we find all righteousness. To live life in a just way means to live in a right relationship with your fellow man. We must always strive to find the correct and just way to live together. How we conduct ourselves before others reveals to God if we are living a just and righteous life before Him. 

Second, we are to love mercy. God is filled with love and mercy. He is the fountain that we draw from. His love and mercy toward sinful man was to offer His one and only Son to pay for the penalty the sin demanded. This could not have been accomplished without a great love for mankind and a merciful heart shown to sinners. Christians have Christ as the example of how to live a life of love and mercy towards our fellow man. God forgave us, and we need to forgive others. If we truly understand God’s love and mercy, we see that it must be an intrinsic quality in our lives as we relate to our fellow man. Certainly, we cannot exhibit the same level of love and mercy that God showed us, but it needs to increase in measure as it is a mandate from God. When we love mercy, we open our hearts to forgive all those who trespass against us.

Lastly, we are to walk humbly in accord with God. Christ delayed the ultimate humility when He descended from Heaven to come and pay the price for sin on the Cross. We cannot walk humbly in that manner but must strive for a sense of humility as we “imitate God” (Ephesians 5:1) in our Christian walk. We must be devoted to God in faith. Paul tells us in the letter to the Philippians that we should: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3  Walking humbly with God causes us to seek and live in a righteous manner. 

God wants a spiritual commitment from those who love Him. All true Christians should desire, and pursue, a committed way of life that consists of acting justly in our days, being overwhelmed with mercy towards others in forgiveness, and walk with humility knowing how much God loves us. These traits cause by their very nature us to live righteously before our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. As true believers saved by Christ, we can rest in God’s promise that: “nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NIV. As a result of this great promise, we should thank God by committing to a life marked by living justly, loving mercifully, and walking humbly with our Savior God.