Fulfilling God's Requirements

What do you think God requires of you?

What do you think He wants?

King David pondered those questions in Psalm 51.  At his time of writing this psalm, he had committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba.  David said, “The Lord doesn’t want a sacrifice.  Otherwise, I would give it.  God wants a humble spirit and a repentant heart; the kind of heart that wants to stop doing wrong and do only right.”

Proverbs 4:23 says that “out of the heart comes the wellspring of life.”  What comes out of you is what is in your heart.  That’s what Jesus meant when He said that you’ll know a tree by the fruit it bears (see Matthew 7:16-19).  If goodness is in you, you’ll do good.  If sin still dwells in you, you will continue in your sinful words and deeds.  The Lord knows that that’s our nature.  So He likes to work from the inside out.  When someone comes to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit changes that person’s heart.  The Spirit of God dwells inside of that person so they’ll want to and will do what is right on the outside.

Micah 6:8 says, “The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.”

You see, it all starts with wanting to serve God because you love Him.  If you love Him and offer yourself to Him, He’ll work with you from the inside to the outside, to live a life that pleases Him.

Pray to God as David prayed to Him in Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.”  When you utter those words in humble sincerity, God will surely answer your prayer.