Genesis to Maps - Prophets

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday: Isaiah 9:1-7         

Tuesday: Ezekiel 7:1-14

Wednesday: Daniel 3

Thursday: Daniel 5

Friday: Daniel 6

Saturday: John 20:30-31

Opening Prayer

Gracious God, Your word is a lamp for our feet and a light to our path. Help us see scripture in a new light. Give us a passion for studying your Word. Speak to us daily in new ways as we read. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Reading

With as many good choices as we face today, it can feel impossible to know which one is right for us. We can either over-commit because we want desperately to serve God or under-commit because we have decision-paralysis or we’ve just given up trying.

The Israelites seemed to have the same problem. For generations, they either became legalistic trying to please God with their religious sacrifices, or they gave up and grew hard hearts.

In the time of the prophet Micah, the people’s hearts were far from God. They’d created a religion based on rituals and rules that no one could keep. Some even abandoned God and worshipped idols. And yet God continually called them back to a relationship with Him.

Micah tried to tell the people that following God was really much simpler than they made it out to be: “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” (Micah 6:8).

I imagine some of the religious folk having a problem with that simplified version of faith. Or maybe agreeing but wanting to add a few hundred rules to it. But Micah clearly communicated God’s desire through that prophesy — just three things are required: justice, mercy and humility.

Could those three conditions apply to me today? Maybe all God is asking of me is to stand for what is right … to choose kindness … and to walk closely to Him, submitting my will daily.

Perhaps I’m making my choice harder than I have to. If I strip away all the man-made rules and all the expectations I’ve placed on myself, and if God hasn’t clearly spoken to me, then the only thing that matters is if my heart is in the right place: near God’s.

If you are facing a choice today that’s kept you frozen in indecision, I hope God’s Word encourages you. Maybe it really is this simple. Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God. Now, the choice is yours.           

https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2017/01/03/maybe-it-really-is-that-simple