So last Wednesday I asked, "What does it really mean to 'walk humbly' with God?" It could become a rather trite thing to say, guaranteed to make images of us walking rather chummily with Jesus as our ideal of what it means. But Micah gives us the clue to getting it right, when he says "what does God require of you?" That one word, require, means that God is looking for these things in us - acting justly, loving mercy, walking humbly with him. He is looking to see if, as believers, we are actually cultivating these things that are on His heart.
If that's true, then walking humbly with Him means I actively choose to go where He is going, do what He is doing, and pay attention to what He is paying attention to. It's surrendering control of my life to His perfect wisdom. James 4: 4-10 records some very strong words, not to pagans or unbelievers or atheists, but to Christians, to us who have a tendency to choose the world over God's kingdom (even though we have been saved and reoriented heavenward). James quotes Proverbs 3: 34 - "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." His point is not that God gets so angry at us that he lashes out in frustration to stop us - that's what we would do. But He loves us enough to put stumbling-blocks and obstacles in our selfish, self-centered path, pain strategically placed to force us to look up and out, away from our own reflection in the mirror of our own soul. His grace draws us to walk with Him in a way that says, "Not my will, but yours be done." Oddly enough, that ends up making our life actually more what we would want it to be, and not less - but then, that is the point of surrendering to a God who came to give His life so we could gain our own.
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