Day 224

Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12, 1 Corinthians 7:17-35, Proverbs 19:23-20:4

One of the passages that I think will always stay with me is Micah 6:8,

“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.”

When I was a lawyer and a member of the lawyer Christian Fellowship, this verse was their motto. It is something that we took with us when we went on a short mission to Kenya and Rwanda, places where we saw injustice in a big way. The command of God and the place that it had in worship be came very real, it made us look at our priorities very differently.

The writer of Ecclesiastes was worried about this as well when he considered the plight of the oppressed. There are many many people in the world today who are oppressed, for whom the oppressor seems to hold all the cards. What does God want of us? In Ecclesiastes the teacher saw that the oppressed had no comforter, a role that we can take in bringing the love of Christ where it is really needed, shining light into some of the darkest places. Look for people who are oppressed around you, you will soon find them.

Skipping to the New Testament, we are getting used to Paul’s round about and complicated ways of saying things, but look at the last line “that you might live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord”. That is what he is trying to get across – put God first. Now why didn’t he  just say that? In putting God first though we also put others first and the oppressed find comfort, the unloved find love and light shines out in the darkness that will never put it out.

Put God first today and then start looking outwards, you might be surprised by what you see.