Tuesday, April 9, 2013

What Does God Require, part 1


‎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 6:8

Through His Word, God has shown us what is good and what He requires in every situation and circumstance, and with every relationship.  We are faced daily with so many choices. God quietly shows us in His Word what is good.  The world blares out and bombards us with its notions of what is good.  All too often, the two ways are in conflict.  When the two are in conflict, what choice do you most often make?  Is it good the world's way or is it good God's way?  Favored words from my pastor -- life is choice driven; we live and we die by the choices we make.  To help us with the many choices before us may be a continuing focus on the question -- if Jesus were in my shoes, what would He do? To answer that question knowingly requires that we be disciples, i.e., students of the Word. 

My friend, with whom I've shared many meals eating the world's way, has recently had open heart surgery.  One good thing I can do to assist recovery is deliver a meal once per week. What should that meal be?  Convenient fast food? Home cooked, deep fat fried, over salted, over sugared foods we've always enjoyed? What would Jesus do?  Another friend is dating a married man.  How would Jesus respond to my friend?  Yet another friend has joined what I believe to be a cult and is now inviting me to check it out.  How do I respond?  How would Jesus respond?  Another friend has been dating this wonderful man who is now pressuring her to have sex to show that she really loves him.  She's asking what would I do.  Will my response be the Jesus response?  How do you discipline your children, God's way or the world's way?  Surely God can understand that my living expenses must be covered before a tithe can be paid to the church.  My friend trips over her foot and falls in my home, breaking her ankle.  With no insurance, she wants me to pay her full medical expense and will sue me if I don't do so. How would Jesus respond?

Good the world's way or God's way?  Which will it be for you?

 

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