Woe to those who
plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they
carry it out because it is in their power to do it (Micah 2:1).
Thirty years before
Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Mt. Everest in 1953, another British climber, George
Mallory, was asked why he wanted to climb the tallest peak in the world. His
reported answer? “Because it’s there.” Mallory died on his third attempt to
reach the summit in 1924.
If Micah had asked
the oppressors of the poor in Judah why they behaved as they did, their simple
answer would probably have been, Because we can.
No one likes to be
the victim of bullying, but if we look hard enough, there’s always someone
weaker than us. There’s always someone upon whom we can vent our anger. Why
would we do that? Because we can.
Hopefully that’s not
our final answer. Micah’s famous response to the people of Judah, where the
strong took advantage of the weak, was this: He has shown you, O
man, 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 (6:8). Why? Because we can… with God’s help.
Abraham Lincoln is
often quoted as saying, “God must have loved the common people. Why else would
he have made s many of them?” Although I’m told Lincoln never said that, the
sentiment also works if we replace the common people with the poor or the week.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Ask God who needs your
kindness this week.
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