Thoughts for the Day

'Out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong
nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into
ploughshares.
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
national shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall all sit under their own
vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The prophet Micah came from Moresheth Gath around twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem during the 8th century BCE. He is not interested in the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah, other than to mention his main concern of justice to the lame, the outcast, and the afflicted. He predicts the downfall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BCE), but even more importantly Micah provides two further predictions. Some 700 years beforehand he points to the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, saying he will be born in Bethlehem, and secondly he speaks of a future Kingdom where people will live in peace

For Christians his first prophecy has occurred, but we await the second prediction of the completion of God's Kingdom. In the meantime how do we apply Micah's words to ourselves? He rails against injustice, and we should look at our own lives to see where this applies. Sometimes it is the little injustices that matter, and the little unkindnesses. We should ask ourselves 'Who do we ignore?' or 'Who do we not help?'. Let us allow Micah's words to destroy our apathy, and help to bring forward God's Kingdom of love and peace, and help fulfill his command to 'Do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God' (Micah 6).

Lord God,
You taught Your prophet Micah,
to see a future
where justice would be given to all,
especially to the poor and the outcast.
Help us to see the injustice in our own life
and in our own world.
Show us how to make changes,
to move forward to a time when
Your kingdom will truly come.
Amen.