The fact that God has faith in us is not alone a source of comfort; it
presents a stirring challenge. It means that he is in earnest about
achieving his great purposes in human life and that he is counting
upon us to help. He has set his heart on aims, about which he cares,
and to whose achievement he is calling us; he is confident that with
him we can work out, if we will, loftier character and a better world.
Let us consider some of the purposes which God is counting on us, in
fellowship with him, to achieve. The prophet Micah, in a brief but
perfect drama, gives one clue. First the Lord summons his people to a
trial, with the eternal mountains for judges:
=Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the
mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear, O ye mountains,
Jehovah's controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for
Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with
Israel.--Micah 6:1, 2.=
Then, the Lord presents his case:
=O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied
thee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent
before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what
Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered
him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the
righteous acts of Jehovah.--Micah 6:3-5.=
Then the people put in their hesitant, questioning plea.
=Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the
high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a
year old? will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?--Micah
6:6, 7.=
Then the mountains pronounce judgment:
=He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with thy God?--Micah 6:8.=
God, then, is in earnest about _just_, _kind_, _and humble
character_. He believes in it as a possibility; he sees the making
of it now in human hearts; he is pledged to further and establish it
with all his power; and he is counting on us for loyal cooperation
with all our powers of choice. Vital faith means a transforming
partnership with a God who is in earnest about character.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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