Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"Spiritual ADD"


Scripture Passage



Scripture Focus

“O my people, what have I done to you?
     What have I done to make you tired of me?
                                       (Micah 6:3 NLT)

Observation

It’s clear from several verses in Micah 6 that the people of Judah are hardly a model of ethical behavior. Micah speaks of the “homes of the wicked filled with treasures gained by cheating” and the rich becoming wealthy “through extortion and violence.” The second half of verse 12 is a strong indictment:

Your citizens are so used to lying
     that their tongues can no longer tell the truth.
                                        (Micah 6:12 NLT)

Micah details all those sins because—in light of God’s continuing mercy towards the people of Judah—such actions make no sense! Micah asks, in essence, “Where’s the disconnect? Why this huge, gaping distance between what God has the right to expect versus what He’s actually getting?” And I love—okay, I’m rebuked by—the way Micah sets it all up in 6:3…

“O my people, what have I done to you?
     What have I done to make you tired of me?
                                       (Micah 6:3 NLT)

God acts in gracious, loving ways towards people—they make and/or renew commitments to God-honoring life-styles and priorities—and before the ink’s dry on the contract (so to speak), all is forgotten! It’s like Spiritual ADD!

(My goodness—if people forgot the offenses of others as quickly as they forget their promises to God…)

What’s the antidote? It’s detailed in Micah 6:8—

O people, the LORD has told you what is good,
     and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
     and to walk humbly with your God.
                                 (Micah 6:8 NLT)

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