DAILY-E-VOTIONAL

BLESSINGS FROM THE HEART

Pastor Cecil A. Thompson

April 16, 2015

“THE REQUIREMENT!”

Micah 6:8

“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?”

My thoughts wander back to the time when I was a small boy--(believe me…trying to remember that far back at my age is a task!). I can still hear the echoes of my mother telling me to be good. But no matter how hard I tried, I just seemed to get in more and more trouble.

Back then, corporal punishment was not the rank of a military member. It was the rod of correction applied to the seat of learning! This was very evident in our old church building. There was a wood furnace in the basement with a stack of kindling always next to it. It was years before I learned that the kindling was used to start a fire. I was convinced it was there for my mother to use in spanking me.

One Sunday evening stands out clearly in my memory. I had tried my mother’s patience to the breaking point and, with a swoop, I was in her arms and we were heading for the basement and the familiar kindling pile. As I looked over her shoulder at the smiling congregation I cried out, “PRAY FOR ME!” I received extra licks for that outburst!

So what does the Lord require of each and every one of us? It is really quite simple: “…to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” As we examine our life and walk with the Lord, it is essential that we keep that focus in mind. It is not what we can get away with, but what pleases the Lord that matters. Are you meeting God’s requirement?

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions! 

- - - Pastor Cecil