There is something about the beginning of a new year that asks us to look again.
Not in a loud way, not with demands or resolutions or pressure to reinvent ourselves overnight,
but quietly, honestly, almost gently.
We look again at how we've been living, and what has shaped our days,
at what has carried us through, and what has quietly worn us down.
A new year does not just invite change.
It invites clarity.
It asks a simple question that is not always easy to answer.
What does a faithful life actually look like?
Not in theory, not in slogans, but in the ordinary rhythm of our days.
Scripture gives us an answer that is both simple and demanding, ancient and deeply present.
A verse that does not offer a checklist, but a foundation.
Micah 6.8
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Today, as we begin a new year, we're going to slow down and let this verse show us the
foundation of a faithful life.
Welcome to Verses We Missed. I'm your host, your OG Godcaster, Steve Wapp.
Every week we slow down and spend time with the quieter parts of Scripture.
The verses we know well but do not always sit with.
The verses that are familiar but are still forming us.
This is your midweek breath of Scripture in Grace.
And today we're turning to a verse that many of us have heard before,
a verse that gets quoted in sermons, printed on bookmarks, and summarized in short phrases.
But when we stop to really look at it, really think about it,
we discover that it is not a slogan, it is not a checklist,
it is a foundation for a faithful life.
Let me read it slowly.
He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with
your God? Notice how the verse begins, He has shown you. God is not hiding the answer. He is
not vague. He is not mysterious here. He has shown you what is good. And what follows is not a
complicated system or a spiritual productivity plan. It is not a lifetime of hoops to jump through.
It is a foundation. Micah spoke these words to a very religious world.
The people of Israel were busy with worship. They were offering sacrifices. They were keeping
festivals. They were saying the right words. But something was deeply wrong beneath the surface.
Justice was missing. Mercy was absent. Humility had been replaced by pride. Faith had become loud,
but hollow. So God speaks through Micah, and instead of adding more rules, He strips things
back. He does not say, do more religious things. He doesn't say, try harder to impress me.
He says, Here is what I have always wanted.
And what he describes is not performance.
It is posture.
Not achievements, but footing.
The word require can sound heavy to us.
What does the Lord require of you?
It can sound like pressure, like expectation, like another standard we might fail to meet.
But listen carefully.
God is not asking for perfection.
He knows we cannot deliver that.
He is describing alignment.
This is not about earning God's approval.
This is about living in step with His heart.
Think about a foundation.
A foundation is not flashy.
It is not what people admire first.
But it determines everything that comes next.
You do not decorate a house before you pour the foundation.
You don't worry about paint colors if the footing is cracked.
Micah 6.8 is God saying,
If you build here, the rest will stand.
The first phrase is this, to do justice.
Justice is one of those words that can feel heavy in our time.
It can feel political.
It can feel confrontational.
It can feel exhausting.
But biblical justice is not about outrage.
It is about faithfulness.
Justice means doing what is right in the places where God has placed you.
It means honesty when dishonesty would be easier.
Fairness when cutting corners would benefit you.
Speaking truth without cruelty.
Protecting the vulnerable without needing applause.
Justice is not something you wait to practice until the world agrees with you.
It begins with how you treat people.
How you conduct business.
How you speak when no one is listening.
Justice shapes our actions.
It is love with a backbone.
Next, Micah says, to love mercy.
Notice that word love.
Not tolerate mercy.
Not practice mercy occasionally.
Love mercy.
Mercy shapes the heart.
Justice without mercy becomes harsh.
Mercy without justice becomes empty.
Mercy remembers how much we've been forgiven. Mercy refuses to harden. Mercy leaves room for grace.
Mercy shows up as patience, as forgiveness, as generosity or restraint. It is the decision to
treat people better than they deserve because God has treated us that way first. Loving mercy means
we do not just act rightly. We act gently. Finally, Micah says, to walk humbly with your God.
Not run, not sprint. Walk. Walking implies pace, direction, relationship.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking honestly about yourself in relation to
God. Humility keeps us teachable. It keeps us listening. It keeps us dependent. We do not walk
humbly ahead of God. We walk humbly with Him. Humility shapes our walk. It reminds us that
faith is not about control. It is about trust. As we begin a new year, we'll hear many voices
telling us what to chase, what to fix, and what to become. But Micah 6.8 invites us to do something
different. To look again. To look again at how we treat others. To look again at the posture of our
hearts. To look again at the way we walk with God in the small, unseen moments. A faithful life is
not built all at once. It is built one step at a time on a foundation that does not change.
Justice shaping our actions.
Mercy shaping our hearts.
Humility shaping our walk.
So, as you go, don't rush.
Don't perform.
Don't carry what God never asked you to carry.
Just look again and walk faithfully into the year ahead with the God who walks with you.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for showing us what is good.
Thank you for not making the act of living our faith complicated or unreachable.
As we begin a new year, help us to build on what you have told us lasts.
Teach us to do justice with courage.
Teach us to love mercy with tenderness.
Teach us to walk humbly with you, step by step.
And when we're tempted to perform, remind us to return to the foundation.
When we feel overwhelmed, remind us that you are there with us.
Lord, we place this year into your hands.
In Jesus' name, amen.
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This is a weekly show released every Tuesday at 10 p.m. Pacific.
It's your midweek breath of scripture and grace.
As you move into this new year, may your life be built on justice,
softened by mercy and guided by humility as you walk with Jesus.
May God bless you richly.
My name is Steve Webb.
Bye.