September 15, Act Justly
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humblywith your God.
Micah 6:8
He has shown you what is “good.”
In Hebrew thought, “good” indicates something more than just short of best. “Good” becomes an expression of the fullness of God’s truth, for all His ways are right, just, completely absent of evil, and full of spiritual light. His truth and His ways all reflect the excellencies of His nature, and therefore all His ways are good. The Scriptures declare that God’s goodness extends from His nature and becomes expressed in everything He does. This demonstrates the value of His truths:
You are good, and what You do is good; teach me your decrees. (Psalm 119:68)
God's goodness is perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:1 defines God’s goodness not simply in the law, but in the fulfillment of the law through the Son: "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves."
So, God’s goodness became fully understood in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
From the foundation of God's infinite goodness, what does He desire and require in His children? What becomes the perfect offering of our hearts to Him?
The sixth chapter of Micah reads like a conversation between God and Israel. Although God's people approached Him in their outward demonstration of religion, the sacrificial rites and offerings common to Israel’s national and spiritual heritage were not that which God ultimately desired. The prophet pointed to the standard of God's goodness, and then summarized what God truly desired from their lives with three very significant commitments.
To act justly. Here, justice emphasizes strict equality. When these words were given to Israel, injustice was a significant problem. And the root of this problem was the blurring of what is right (just) with what is unjust. To act justly indicates living with a deep sense of right and wrong in God’s sight. In the judicial leadership of Israel, this was forgotten:
"Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud people of their homes; they rob them of their inheritance." (Micah 2:1-2)
Israel and their leaders were held accountable for their injustice. God called them according to His own goodness to act justly – to return to a deep sense of what is right and wrong in God’s sight. For, although they continued in their religious activity, they had forsaken God's way and God's Word.
Jesus addressed the same atrocity among organized religion:
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
(Luke 11:42)
So, clearly from both the Old and New Testament history, there existed among many adherents of religion the right acts that disguised the wrong heart. And this becomes the validation for Micah’s call today. God has revealed what is good and acceptable in His sight: we are called to act justly – to act according to His rightness. This does not reflect legalism, but our necessary alignment with the heart of Christ, and with God’s will in the world.
So today, how can you act justly? How can you better act according to God's standard of what is right? How will you live out the heart of our God and the love of our Savior to this world?
God has shown us what is good, so let's bring His goodness into situations that need to be set right by His standards. If we have been changed by the love and grace of Christ Jesus our Lord, we will certainly feel His leading to act justly in an unjust world. And let's begin with those closest to us. In our speech, our conduct, and in our attitudes toward others, let's respond to the goodness of our God, and let's act justly.
Blessings.