Tuesday, March 16, 2021
by Dr. Paul Chappell
Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Micah 6:6-8
One of the most illogical facades people put on is that of trying to impress God with outward acts of worship or service while inwardly rebelling against God from the heart. This is what was happening in the prophet Micah’s day. The people were bringing the required sacrifices before the Lord, but at the same time they were violently oppressing the poor and obtaining the very wealth they were offering to God by deceit. God told Micah that no matter how many sacrifices the people might bring, He wanted them to correct their hearts. There are no outward displays of religious devotion which we can make that will substitute for the inward obedience which God demands. He does want our outward behavior to be right—indeed He insists on it. But that starts on the inside.
When we are focused only on the outward, it is easy for us to be lead off course. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day had all the outward trappings of obedience, but their hearts were far from being filled with love for God. Instead they were content as long as others thought of them as righteous. One of the reasons they hated Jesus so much was that He pointed out that their outward compliance with the law was not enough to please God.
Today’s Growth Principle:
The obedient Christian life is lived inside out—it starts with the heart first, and the outward actions follow from that.