Deputy Principal

Over the course of this year, I have had many opportunities to reflect on our verse for this year, Micah 6:8: And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

The most recent of these occasions was at our staff devotions last week when Mrs Jones led our devotion time and read a children’s story book entitled ‘A Knight in the Forest’.  Although this was a children’s story, the message was very clear that we need to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

Micah 6:8 presents a job description for the Christian life. We are to be people who act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

God says for us to act justly.  To act justly means being fair to everyone; using the same rules for everyone.  The emphasis is not on justice but on “doing justice.” Justice is something we do.

We are then told to love mercy. While the first command to act justly is referring to our own actions, this second expectation refers to how we are to treat others. To love mercy implies we need to be steadfast, to be reliable and to be faithful to our obligations in life.  We are to treat others in a way that is more compassionate and forgiving.

The third thing we are told to do is to walk humbly with our God.  The word “humble” means remembering that we are not God and we are no better than anyone else.

God calls us to be servants and to walk humbly refers to action that is modest and careful and doing what Jesus would want us to do. We need to remember that without Him, we can do nothing.

So we need to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly.  These first three commands are fairly obvious. However, in my reading this year I found there is a fourth command that may actually go a little unnoticed.  The fourth expectation we are given is to walk with God.  Although that appears a simple thing to do, it is likely the most difficult.  It is also the most important.

Without a close and personal relationship with God, none of the above is even possible for us to accomplish. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “…you can do nothing without Me.”

My prayer for each of us is to be fully committed to a daily walk with God. This will not only help us succeed in achieving this fourth expectation of having a close relationship with God, it will also make the first three – to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly – come that much more naturally.

Blessings to you all.

Tim Farmilo

Deputy Principal