Monday Morning Manna: Electives and Requirements

I recently asked a college student, “How are you classified”? “Oh, I don’t know, I’ve been taking mostly courses that I want to take,” she said. Focus on electives, and graduate in 5, 6, 7 years. Focus on requirements, and more likely graduate on time! Life is made up of both electives and requirements, and the Bible helps us separate them. The verses that precede Micah 6:8 ask what kind of sacrifices would please God – burnt offerings, calves one year old, thousands of rams, 10,000 rivers of oil, and finally, “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” These are electives. If sacrifice is not what God desires, what does He require? Micah 6:8 has been called the high-water mark of the O.T. One author called it, “the greatest saying in the O.T.” True or not, it calls us from our self-seeking, and self-satisfying versions of true religion. Not our familiar forms and rituals but God’s requirement. Not our emotional highs, but God’s steady requirement. Not our comfortable agendas, but God’s requirement. Not what we desire, but what God requires. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God?” Enjoy your electives, but remember, the priority lies with the requirements.

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.