When I was in high school, my family went on a ski trip. Toward the end of our vacation, my two youngest siblings decided they wanted to try skiing tougher mountains. Since I’m the oldest, I offered to take them. We caught a gondola to the top of the mountain, planned our path down, then took off.
The skiing started off great. We enjoyed the views as we sped down the mountain. But after some time, I realized I wasn’t seeing anymore signs. A few minutes later, I noticed there were more trees than before. The trail seemed much less paved, too.
I thought to myself, We should just keep going. We’ll get to the bottom, eventually. We’ll hit the lodge, get some hot chocolate, and all will be well.
Well, we did hit the bottom, but the bottom wasn’t a lodge. It was a neighborhood! I felt terrible as I led my siblings out of the forest through slush to knock on someone’s door. Thankfully, the family was kind. They called our parents to pick us up while we warmed up with hot chocolate.
We all had a good laugh, but I learned something important. I realized I could be a good skier, a good big brother, even a good leader—but if I didn’t know where I was going—if I didn’t know the path I was traveling down, none of that mattered.
It’s the same in life. Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV) tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Walking the right way is vital to us arriving at the blessing God has for us.
The Israelites struggled for years with walking the right way, and, as a result, they struggled to enter their Promised Land. In Micah 6, it appears God finally had enough with their selfishness. Despite all He had done for them by bringing them out of torturous slavery in Egypt, they continued to complain, worship other gods, and allow greed and filth to corrupt their people.
Micah 6:1-2 starts by God announcing that He is bringing a case before the Israelites. Verses 3-7 offer the two charges: Israel valued gain over gratefulness and they valued gaining approval over grace. They wanted God’s path to look how they thought it would, and they wanted to earn their grace rather than have God deliver them. In short, it was all about them. All the time.
Verse 8 shows us that what God values directly opposes what the Israelites valued. He isn’t after our sacrifices. He’s after our heart. The verse says, “…what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Israel’s history proves that whatever we set our heart on, we’ll walk toward. So in a world with countless competing affections, let’s fix our heart on the only One who can bring true fulfillment. His path leads to life!
