Daily Devotion by Marge Anderson

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 kindness
    and to walk humbly with your God.

    A long time ago, when I was a young mother, I came one Sunday morning to Good Shepherd with Jim and our 4 children. I was pretty frazzled. Just getting the kids out of the door for church, more or less on time, was a challenge. Trying to focus on worship, with 4 in the pew,  was interesting. I was trying to be a good mother. I was trying to be a good wife. I was trying to be a good Christian, a good citizen, a good friend….  

   The first reading that day was this passage from Micah. And I heard it this way: “He has shown you, Marge, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”  Not to be the best mother and wife in the world. Not to make sure there is no dried egg on your son’s cheek when you get to church. Not to feel guilty that you weren’t teaching Sunday School this year, not that you…..  

   I heard these words as God talking to me, loving me, reassuring me that all that stuff I found myself wrapped up in wasn’t the real thing. The real thing was simply: to act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God… boy or boy, I could do that last. I was feeling pretty humble about myself anyway. That just meant paying some attention to God, who knew and loved me.

   Well, I didn’t hear anything else that morning at church. I have no idea what the other lessons were, what the sermon was… anything. But I am convinced that God spoke to me that morning. Helped orient me to what was God is pointing us to. 

   Advent is a time of getting ready for Jesus. But for many of us it is a very stressful time, about decorating the tree, buying and wrapping presents, getting food for the holidays. And maybe this Advent, there is the added anxiety of how do I deal with others about masking, vaccinating, all that? When I feel myself getting caught up in the frenzy, I turn again to Micah, and God speaks to me all over again: if I act with love, then that is the important thing. 

My prayer: God, let me continue to walk with you. Keep showing me what is important. Amen

3 comments on article "Daily Devotion by Marge Anderson"

Sandra Wearne

Thank you, Marge. I hold this verse close to my heart & pray that my actions reflect that. I appreciate your connection between this beloved verse and the business of Advent.

12/2/2021 8:54 AM

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Sandra Wearne

P. S. My spell check once again changed my spelling & the meaning of my comment. I intended it to read "the *busy-ness*of Advent". Advent is s certainly not a *business.*

12/2/2021 8:58 AM

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Heidi Johnson

What a wonderful message to read and contemplate, especially at this time of the year. And thank God that we don't have to be perfect!

12/2/2021 10:30 PM

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