What Does the Lord Require of Us?

Do you ever find it challenging to maintain a clear, spiritual focus? With so many competing sounds and sights, issues and attractions, keeping “our eyes on Jesus” can be very difficult. Some of us do good to have our hearts focused on God during times of corporate worship on Sunday mornings (and for some, not even then). Jesus’ Parable of the Sower used the illustration of seed sown among thorns where “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22). Our minds and hearts are being continually influenced by the insistent messages of the surrounding culture. We love the annual Super Bowl commercials without necessarily stopping to consider the messages we are taking into our souls.

The message of the apostle John seems so clear and simple: “Do not love the world or anything in the world” (1 John 2:15). Don’t attach your personal desires and affections on the elements that make up our society. Why? “The world and its desires pass away.” Our societal systems are temporary, and the values that drive our culture are temporary. Yet they demand the kind of attention and loyalty due only permanent, eternal things. Instead, “whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). God is eternal. The will – desires, values – of God are eternal. Those who choose to live their lives focused on God and his will find a life of eternal meaning and fulfillment – eternal, abundant life. You will remember that John defined the temporary desires and values of the temporary world system in these familiar terms: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). When we define our values in terms of our physical desires, what can be seen and observed with our eyes, and the natural and material accomplishments of our lives, we distance ourselves from God’s eternal values – “love for the Father is not in them.”

Compare this teaching to one found in the prophet Jeremiah. “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches” (Jeremiah 9:23). This is an excellent description of the things we tend to boast about, are proud of – the things we tend to value and to praise others for, the ways we measure success and significance.

• Wisdom. Our society values intelligence. Having attained high levels of formal education results in automatic status in many circles. We take pride in our IQ and the intelligence of our children. But it’s possible to master areas of learning and to have great intellectual gifts without seeing the big picture or being of practical value to others. In fact, those who “boast in their wisdom” can be insensitive if not offensive when it comes to human relationships. Those with the “gift of learning” forget that any ability they might have has been given to them by the Creator.
• Strength. The desire for power is a universal human tendency. Gaining influence and control in our lives and over the lives of others gives us a sense of importance and significance. Feeling powerless and out of control results in high levels of worry and anxiety. Yet, what a person does with their power is the ultimate measure of their success.
• Riches. Power and wealth go together. Accumulating things is more easily done in a position of power and control. Getting greater wealth can be the primary motivation behind attempts to grab power from others. As the bumper sticker famously declared, “He who dies with the most stuff wins.” But as with power, what a person does with their wealth is the true indicator of the meaning of their lives.

Through the prophet the Lord goes on to say, “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me” (Jeremiah 9:24). Finding true meaning and fulfillment in life can only be founded upon an understanding of God – a thoughtful, skillful, careful reflection on the nature and purpose of God – and on a personal, experiential knowledge of God. For as Jesus said, knowing God is eternal life (John 17:3). If we get to know God, we will also come to understand God’s perspective and God’s values. We will discover that God “delights” in specific things:

• Kindness (Hebrew chesed). God values covenant-making, covenant-keeping love. God delights in committed, loyal personal relationships.
• Justice (Hebrew mishpat). God personally delights in justice, in the exercise of justice as it pertains to the guilty and the innocent, the weak and the strong.
• Righteousness (Hebrew tsadaq). God places a high premium on integrity, on right behavior in the context of right, covenantal relationships.

A focused life in God’s Kingdom will value the things God values and will not be lived according to the values of the surrounding culture. I have often wondered what God’s perspective is on our feeble attempts to know him, love him and serve him. What is God looking for? What does God require of us? “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). That’s the very definition of abundant life, of the life of a disciple of Jesus. Is that the definition of your life?