Are You Flabby?

At this time of year, we often take stock of our lives; we think of how the past year has gone and if we are at peace with it or if there are things we should have done differently.  We make resolutions to try harder, to be better, to get into shape.  What if our New Year's resolution was to get into spiritual shape?  What if we recognized our spiritual flabbiness the way we so easily notice the pounds we have accumulated during the holiday season?  What if our resolution was to hear the voice of God in our lives this year, to learn what He requires of us?

"He has shown you, O mortal, 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 6:8  (NIV)

He requires three seemingly simple things of us:  To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.  If we could but do these three things and do them well, we would be pleasing God with our lives but there are a few things we need to think about before we can do these three things.   These three things are a personal matter that each sinner must consider.

To Act Justly:  We cannot act justly or "do justly" if we are not right with God having been justified by faith.  In Psalm 32:1-2 (NIV) it says, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit."

And in Romans 4:1-8 (The Message) it says, "So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, 'Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.'   If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.  David confirms this way of looking at it, saying that the one who trusts God to do the putting-everything-right without insisting on having a say in it is one fortunate man:  Fortunate those whose crimes are carted off, whose sins are wiped clean from the slate.   Fortunate the person against whom the Lord does not keep score.  Do you think for a minute that this blessing is only pronounced over those of us who keep our religious ways and are circumcised? Or do you think it possible that the blessing could be given to those who never even heard of our ways, who were never brought up in the disciplines of God? We all agree, don't we, that it was by embracing what God did for him that Abraham was declared fit before God?"  Abraham's trust in God was reckoned to him as righteousness.

To Love Mercy:  In order to "love mercy", we must have personally experienced God's mercy.  In Ephesians 2:1-10 (The Message) it says,  "It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.  Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing."

And in Titus 3:5 (NIV) it says,  "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,  to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.  At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  This is a trustworthy saying.  And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone."  

To Walk Humbly with Your God:  We cannot walk humbly with our God until we have humbled ourselves before Him confessing our sins and accepting His gift of eternal life through the power of the blood of His precious Son.  "For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  Luke 14:11 (NIV) 

And in James 4:10 (The Message) it says, "So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious.  Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet."

We need to not make promises we don't intend to keep.  We need to make resolutions and keep them.  We need to seek Him and see ourselves as He sees us, broken sinners in need of His salvation, His mercy, and His humility.  "The only people God can save are lost people; the only people God can forgive are guilty people.  If we see ourselves as God sees us, then we can by faith become what He wants us to become."  (W. Wiersbe)

Dear Lord,  Help us to become who You want us to be.  Let us learn to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You...