What Is Required
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD
require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with
your God?
– Micah 6:8
To be skilled as a musician requires consistent dedication. No matter how skilled he becomes on an
instrument, he can never stop practicing the basics.
I remember waiting in an underground offstage wing at Disney
World. Our band was scheduled to perform at the Tomorrow Land Theater. We were
required to be in place 45 minutes prior to the show. As I waited, I listened
to a highly trained (and paid) Disney cast member practice scales on his clarinet. Over and over he moved
tediously through the basic routine that I know most musicians learn in the
first few months of study.
As I took my place on the rising underground platform I
marveled at the clarinetist's dedication as he continued to practice.
After an hour, our show completed and the stage dropped
itself back to its original position below ground. You can imagine my surprise when the
first thing I heard after the platform came to rest was the sound of a clarinet
smoothly gliding up and down the chromatic scale. Two hours of practicing nothing but arpeggios!
Now that’s going beyond what is required!
If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves in the company of complacent Babylon;
demanding God’s discipline and intervention (Isaiah 47:10). Oh, we may still
attend church, give our money and talk as if we’re doing just fine, but in our
hearts we’ve become rebellious and out-right sinful (Micah 6:7).
Look, God doesn’t want our half-hearted attendance or our
attempts to buy Him off with sacrificial gifts. In fact, He doesn’t ask for any
sacrifice at all, but the sacrifice of all. Everything that keeps us from
acting right, loving right, and walking right in humility with our God must go
(Proverbs 21:3).
Suggested Prayer: Father, I acted
judgmentally toward _______ today, please forgive me and help me to make it right
with him. Lord Jesus, I don’t want to be unmerciful or unkind to others, please
change me. I lay my heart in your hands; mold me into who You want me to be.
Men will part with any thing rather than their sins; but
they part with nothing so as to be accepted of God, unless they do part with
their sins. – Matthew Henry
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