Micah 6:8

Like most Christian Reformed girls of a certain age, I grew up attending Calvinettes.  Today it is called GEMS, and it's really like a Calvinist Girl Scouts.  Every meeting began with us singing songs, including our theme song "Jesus is All the World to Me," and reciting our verse.  The leader would say, "Calvinettes, what does the Lord require of you?"  We would respond, in unison, "To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.  Micah 6 verse 8."  Ask almost anyone my age who grew up in the CRC, and they can sing you a verse and recite Micah 6:8.

I wonder when the reality of that verse started sinking in for me, though.  At what point did I understand that "doing justice" wasn't just about deciding who was right or wrong, that "loving kindness" isn't just about good manners and being nice, and that "walking humbly with God" means more than not bragging.  I wonder sometimes if it has yet sunk in.

A week or so ago in my prayer book, Everyday Prayers, author Scotty Smith (thanks, Writer Friend!) wrote about how our groanings and longings for eternity should cause us to show up rather than check out.  He said that instead of numbing ourselves to the needs of the world as we wait, that longing for Christ to return and God to set things right for eternity should prompt us to work toward bringing that about now.  He asked God, "What will it mean to love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with you in the broken places of your world?"

Indeed.  What will it mean?  What will it mean for me to be more than one who seeks the difference between right and wrong, more than one who is nice to other people, more than one who doesn't brag about my walk with God?  What will it mean, with the unique way that God has gifted me, the unique personality that I have, the unique place He has put me in His world?  How should I seek to DO justice, to LOVE kindness, and to WALK HUMBLY with my God in His broken world?  And not just in the future or in my profession or in my parenting. 

In my friendships.  In my right now.  In this neighborhood. 

In this day.