"Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with they God?" Micah 6:6-8Have you ever been driving your car, when suddenly you hear a "beeb" and you look at your dashboard and see a "Check Engine" light that has come on. What do you do? Ignore it? This could be a costly mistake. You immediately pull over and turn off the key. You pop the hood, get out of the car, lift the hood, and begin to inspect the engine. If you do not know that much about cars, you will simply call someone who does.
IGNORING IT WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM
Ignoring the light will not solve the problem. You may say, "Well, it still runs!" It could be a number of things...O2 sensor (Oxygen sensor) is one of the major reasons the check engine light will come on, that and PCV valve (Pollution Control Valve). It may not stop you, but you cannot pass the State Vehicle Inspection with it on.
THREE CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS OF THE HEART BY GOD
Micah has been given three check engine lights of the heart by God. Verse 8 lists them: 1) Justice 2) Mercy 3) Humility. Our heart is the engine of our lives. If you have heart problems, it can affect everything you do, and it can KILL YOU. So What do these "CHECK ENGINE" lights do to check our heart? Let's take a quick look at these three to see how they monitor our spiritual heart.
JUSTICE
Justice - How I relate to sin. What is "sin"? Have you every played Darts? There is a small red dot in the center of several other circles. The highest point is the Bullseye, which is in the middle. It is small and not easy to hit with the dart from a distance. Sin is "missing the mark" or i this case "the bullseye". Jesus told His disciples, and the multitude during His sermon on the mount, "...strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14). The further we step from the LORD, the easier it is to "miss the mark" How do we feel about missing t he mark? Do we settle and say "Well at least I hit the board!" No, anything less than the bulllseye will not get you in that gate. Do we excuse sin? Do we say, "Well, I have an old injury and just can't throw very well!" The really neat thing about this with God is, He likes you to get real close and carefully put the dart in the center! Isn't that cool? No, that's not cheating! God wants you to just "Hit the Mark!" Don't make excuses for sin. Get closer to God, and you won't "miss the mark". When we start making excuses for our sin, or the sins of others, or just say it doesn't matter, we need to check our heart. Our check engine light is on!
MERCY
Mercy- How I relate to others. Do you lose patience with others? Do you find it hard to forgive someone when they have done you wrong or someone you are very close to wrong? One day Peter came to Jesus and asked Him a question. "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" Jesus answered him by saying, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:21-22) Wow! that's a lot of times! When we get to the place we cannot forgive, or refuse to forgive, we need to check our heart. Our check engine light is on!
HUMILITY
Humility - How I relate to God. Humility is a strange thing, the moment you think you have it and start telling others you have it, you just lost it. The Pharisees were bad about bragging to others on their spirituality. Jesus told His disciples of a Pharisee that was standing and praying and said "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioner, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." (Matthew 18:11-12) Then Jesus gave another example. He told of a publican that was standing afar off, who would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but smote his breast and said "God be merciful to me a sinner." (Matthew 18:13) Jesus told them that the Publican went down justified rather than the Pharisee "for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Matthew 18:14) When you begin to feel good about all you do, and justify to God that you are not that bad, watch out, your check engine light is on!
GOD REQUIRES A PURE HEART
Jesus began His sermon on the mount with the Beatitudes. One of those attitudes we are to have is a "Pure Heart" He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8) How pure is your heart? If one of those "check engine" lights are on, you will not pass God's eternal inspection! John said, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20) Paul said, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)What we all must strive for is to pass the ultimate inspection!
