The Job Description

September 11, 2019

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

I’ve become intrigued with watching the renovation and rehab shows on television, the ones like “Fixer Upper” and “Love It or List It” where the owners/buyers give the rehabbers/stars of the show a list of what it will take to make them satisfied with a particular house. The lists are long and typically very challenging. Often the designer must tell them, “There’s a huge gap between your desires and the renovation money you have to invest. I am just not going to be able to do all you want.”

Sometimes we feel like our life needs a huge rehab and that God has a list so long of what we need to do and become that we will never make it. We will never be a person who can live up to His specifications. There’s a huge gap between His desires and our resources. That’s a false impression; a lie we have believed from way back. But God loves us deeply and perfectly. He knows what we have and what we need. His requirements are simple and are designed for our good and happiness.

Micah explained the kind of simplicity that characterizes God’s relationship with us. He’s not interested in the superficial; He has created us, and He knows what we need. He knows we need to live simply and justly, dealing honestly and fairly. He knows that we need to delight in mercy, receiving it gratefully ourselves and extending it generously to others. Our wisdom and direction in life comes from daily walking humbly with God. That means I want for me what He wants for me. I seek His input on everything. I remember who HE is and who I am. He is God and I am not. He loves me exactly as I am but will walk with me to take me to my best possible self and life.

What a relief to know that I do not have to impress God! He is not impressed with me and has no desire to be. He loves me completely, is proud to be my Father, and nothing I can ever do will increase His love for me. The inner compulsion I have that says “MORE! MORE! You must have, be, and do MORE!” is not from Him. He wants today to be a day of honesty, mercy, and humbly walking with Him. That is enough to completely satisfy.

• Father, Your demands for me are not hard and impossible. They are simple and humble. Today I want to walk that pathway with You. Nudge me when I forget. Amen.