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This is my third message on the book of Micah. It is about the same key verse as before, Micah 6:8. But today I will focus on the part about walking humbly with God. Micah 6:8 says, “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.”
Let’s briefly recall what we have learned so far. When we talk about acting justly, this is based on the righteousness of God’s laws. So, the word “justice” here implies God’s laws. For example, to act according to the Ten Commandments, or to view the world according to God’s values.
Next, about loving mercy: Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” We live under the great forgiveness that Christ bought us. Remembering the grace that saved us, we live each day with thankfulness.
Finally, we come to today’s focus, which is walking humbly before our God. That is what the Christian life should look like. Walking humbly is something we see in the life of Jesus Christ. As described in Philippians 2:3-9, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name…”
Daily, we look up at the Cross of Christ. We pray to be able to love other people as Christ did. To able to humble ourselves and consider others better than ourselves. This is how a follower of Christ should be.
The Old Testament has examples of great leaders who walked humbly before God. One of these was King Solomon. The Bible records a humble prayer that this great king offered up to God. Let’s read it. In 1 Kings 3:7-9, Solomon prays, “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” Solomon humbled himself and asked God for a wise heart.
God had appeared to King Solomon in a dream. God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (verse 5). In verse 6, Solomon had replied, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.” Here we see a description of Solomon’s father king David. He was faithful, righteous, and upright in God’s eyes. Like Solomon, David loved God’s mercy and aimed to be righteous according to the Law of Moses.
We see examples in the Old Testament of great men who walked humbly before God. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon says the following. Proverbs 22:4: “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” If so, shouldn’t we desire humility and fear of the Lord? That is what Solomon learned through the wisdom God gave him. He observed that those who lived this way were blessed with riches, honor, and life. So this is another example of humility mentioned in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ walked humbly before his Father. Just as David and Solomon walked humbly before God.
Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus Christ said, “I am gentle and humble in heart.” He invites all people, especially those who are weary and carrying heavy burdens. “I will give you rest,” he says. Our hearts can be wearied and broken by many things. The important thing here is to learn from Christ. And to live with Christ’s yoke upon us. The yoke is a tool that connects two oxen, one that is well-trained and another that hasn’t been trained, and walking together they plow a field. As Christians, we do not walk through life alone. Christ walks with us. We are to learn from him and be guided by him. We surrender our lives and ask him to walk with us. We surrender our worries, past hurts, and everything to Christ, who will comfort and encourage us along the way. That is the Christian life. “Learn from me,” Jesus says. “And you will find rest for your souls.” The way to walk humbly, as Micah calls us to do, is shown in a life with Christ. When we live with Christ, we receive God’s help, we realize what our gifts are, and we use our gifts to make an impact in the world.
In John 13, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. John 13:4-5: “… so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” Jesus Christ is the one who washes our feet as well. And not only that; he washes our hearts clean too. Then in verse 14, he tells us, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” To be a Christian is to live with such humility together with Christ. And this way of life doesn’t stop with us. When we are with Christ, this way of living influences our families and our society. That is the power of the Christian life.
To be humble and to walk with Christ. It’s not an easy thing to do. In Micah 6:7, the Israelites boasted of the sacrifices they offered to God: “thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of olive oil”. But the reason we are alive now is by the mercy of God. I pray to remember this and worship God sincerely from the bottom of my heart.
Whenever we see little children, let us be reminded of Christ’s words in Matthew 18:4: “Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Let us take these words to heart.
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