In the Old Testament book of Micah the prophet Micah stood between God and the people of Israel. He became the spokesman for God to the people and the voice of the people to God. He ask of God for the people; "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the High God?" He asked if God wanted them to sacrifice their best and in great numbers, or did God want them to vow and give them their first born for the sin of their soul? God's answer was simple and direct. " He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God." In other words what God wants from us is simply to be humble, just, honest, and compassionate human beings.
In my journey through this world I have sought truth, peace and God's will for my life in many different places. I have attended hundreds of churches, dozens of denominations and heard thousands of sermons. A lot of what I saw was not good. Everything from believing God wants us to see how loud and wild we can be in a church service. To God wants us to be strict, prohibitive and austere as we can possibly be. I have heard it preached that what God wants is our money and only the most generous tithers please God. I have heard it taught that only the people who give up TV, radio, card playing, dance, short pants and short skirts, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, fatty foods and cut their hair in a certain way can possibly please God.
Unfortunately I have witnessed too much emphasis put on the external while the matters of the heart were mostly ignored. I believe the animosity between Christian sects are not caused by the great Biblical truths taught in scripture. They are caused by the misunderstanding caused by a false notion of what God wants from us. King David in the book of Psalms chapter 15, asked God directly what He wanted from mankind. "Lord who shall abide with you and live with you forever?" God's answer to David was .. " He that lives honestly and does what is right and speaks what is right from their heart. He that does not slander or mistreat their fellowman. He who refutes the wicked and cruel while honoring the just and merciful."
In my almost 53 years of living ( 32 of them as a Christian ) I have found this one thing to be true. There is nothing more that God wants from us than for us to be kind, tenderhearted and honest human beings. Whatever rules and regulations we put upon ourselves or others are at best secondary to what lies within our hearts and minds. I can not speak for everyone else, but as for me the only remedy I have found in changing the foolishness and pettiness of my heart is in knowing God's Son , Jesus Christ and God's will revealed in the Holy Bible.
I am of the opinion that many people reject God because of the false notions about His will promoted by ignorant and disingenuous religious leaders. My advice to all seekers of truth is to not to rely on others to find God's will for your life. Seek God and His will for yourself. Both can be found in the person of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible, but only by those who look for themselves..The alternative is to be ran in circles trying to live up to what everyone else believes is God's will for your life.
Wesley Jones
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