He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV
On May 14th, we witnessed yet another mass shooting. A young man walked into a supermarket, opening fire, killing ten and wounding three. By his own account, his actions were motivated by racism and fear, tools of Satan.
In contrast to these actions, we have this verse of what God desires of us. Following God's commandments, we are to conduct ourselves towards others with righteousness and fairness. In loving mercy, we must be compassionate, empathetic, and forgiving. By walking humbly before God, we acknowledge him as our Lord. He becomes primary in our lives above everything else.
We cannot deny that there is evil in this world. There is a darkness that shadows our hearts and minds. But by God's grace, there is also light. We don't live in hopelessness because Christ taking the world's sins upon himself became the pure and blameless attaining sacrifice. Upon his death, he descended into that place of darkness, conquered evil, and returned to heaven to prepare a place for us. Through Jesus, we can, by the help of the Holy Spirit, "act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly."
Father, we come before you today offering our thanks and praise. We give thanks for the salvation in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge we are sinners saved by your grace. In our sin, we ask your forgiveness. Help those innocents today who have suffered at the hands of others' evil. May they find strength and comfort in your arms. We pray for the perpetrators of evil that they may acknowledge their sin and accept you. Help us, O Lord, to live as you require, in the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
