Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
We live in a world of One.
It is all about me. From Selfies and thousands of pictures, texts about what I am doing and you need to know about it, to rationalize all behavior in the name of Me. We see it from the politicians and their followers down to the clergy and their flock. The “Me Attitude” is at work, at school, at play, at the market, at the restaurant, and on the street.
Maybe this is why the devil hated Job so much?
He had walked humbly with his God for many years and reaped the blessings in his family and possessions. His friends respected him and sought his wisdom on the mysteries of life. He was constantly aware of God’s Presence in every area of his life and the lives of his family. He gave God the credit. Naked I came out of my mother’s womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Then the devil attacked, and his friends sided with the enemy instead of seeing things from the hand of God. Job reacted as a human in defending his righteousness before God.
His righteousness was good before the eyes of others drawing their admiration, but God saw that even though Job gave Him credit, Job really was proud of his ability to live a righteous life before others.
So God stripped Job of his possessions, and of his family and of his friends and of his blindness to the origins of his righteousness.
When all his sufferings were over, and Job received a personal visit from the Almighty, Job acknowledged he never could be God; even of his own life.
All our righteousness is as filthy rags or a menstruating cloth before our Holy God.
We are not saved by our works but by His Grace.
His Salvation is a free gift because of Jesus Christ paying for our self-righteousness.
It is refreshing to find a person who is truly broken and knows his weaknesses as well as his strengths. The transparency is refreshing to the soul.
Isn’t this what Jesus sought from the Pharisees?
Micah summed it all up:
- Do justly
- Love kindness
- Walk humbly before thy God
Notice it says nothing about doing this before men. Even fasting and prayer was taught by our Lord to be secretly before God and then He would cause His Father’s blessings to fall upon us before men.
God help us to honestly acknowledge that we are human and to give Him the credit for His mercy toward all of our sins, especially self-righteousness.
“God is none other than the Savior of our wretchedness. So we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities… Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified Him, but have glorified themselves.”
“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”