Bible Verse of the Day Monday May 15th, 2023

Micah 6:8 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.

In Hampton, Virginia, my hometown, there could be seen most any day a man walking with his Dog who wore a leash with the hand end of the leash in the Dog’s mouth. The city of Hampton had a leash law but did not stipulate who must hang on to the lease. This man has circumvented the law, but the most amazing thing about this anomaly was that the Dog walked in perfect submissive and yielding step with his master. The well trained K-9 could have taken off after any alley cat he desired, and there were plenty of them in town since there was no leash law for cats.

The Children of Israel whimpered and wailed to the Prophet Micah that they were not sure how to please God (Micah 6:6-8). This question was put forth by the Children of Israel with generations before them knowing exactly what would please God. It seems to be a form of bitterness saying that even if we brought thousands of rams and rivers of oil or even our firstborn, it still might not be enough. The Prophet Micah taught them with an uncomplicated and elementary lesson. “act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Even today, there are millions of people trying to please God with their good works and deeds. Missing the boat, like God’s people did back in Micah’s day, thinking that God needs or wants something we have to offer. Our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, wants only our hearts and souls completely and totally surrendered to Him, walking in submission to His will for our lives. When we do this, there will be a miracle happen in our lives, that is, that God’s will for us will become our will; we will no longer be enamored by the lure of worldly fame and fortune. 

This simple lesson from the Prophet Micah was applicable then as well as now. Jesus renewed this great lesson on surrender and obedience during His earthly ministry when He articulated the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:36-40). We serve a merciful God that allows us to carry our own leash; He does not try to keep us under control by pulling in our tether. God finds pleasure and gratification when we walk in a surrendered fashion like the Dog who carried his own leash. We will be assured that we are pleasing God when we walk in perfect submissive and yielding every step to our Lord and Master. If we seek true freedom, we must surrender ourselves 100% to God.

We will close this writing out with a few words from Judson W. Van Deventer from a Micah 6:8 hymn he wrote in 1896. “All to Jesus, I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.”