Articles
What Does God Want?
Whenever the holidays or a birthday rolls around the most asked question is likely to be, “What do you want?” Wasting precious time, money, and energy on an unwanted gift is out of the question! So, while you may be gathering wish lists for your loved ones right about now, have you ever stopped to consider what exactly God may want?
Perhaps that’s a daunting question, and perhaps we’d follow up with a couple different responses, such as: “What could anyone possibly give God that is worthy of who He is?” or “What could God possibly want since He’s the creator of the entire world?” There’s humility to be found in even asking those questions, as the Almighty Creator is worthy of infinitely more than what we could offer Him. However, the Creator knows His creation. Therefore, He knows our limitations and believe it or not, He’s given us a simple list of what He wants.
The prophet Micah provides this simple list in Micah 6. Prior to the list, Micah provides an inner-dialogue of the Israelites who act as though God’s expectations are painfully difficult (Micah 6:6-7). Micah’s response deflates the argument quite sufficiently. In fact, Micah indicates the items on this list are no secret to the audience as he says, “He has told you.” The same could be said to us today. God has told us, so let’s listen to Micah’s response as well in Micah 6:8 where he writes, “He has told you, O man, what is good;and what does the LORD require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God?”
First of all, what God wants is “good,” and that should come as no surprise. Everything God created was “good” (Genesis 1:3, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) and for the well being of mankind. Therefore, it’s only right for God to expect good things given in return.
Truth be told, it’s not just a matter of what God wants…it’s what He requires. The word “want” seems to leave the window open for debate. A “requirement” eliminates the need for a debate. While that may seem rigid, look again at what God’s requirements are: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. That’s a pretty simple list!
As we round out the last few weeks of 2018, we’ll spend some time specifically addressing these three requirements from God for His creation. Let’s use this time to reflect on how well we’ve done with these requirements over the past year (and more) and how we can be resolved to fulfill them even better in the year to come.
