God is Almighty. God is eternal. God is holy. God is so much higher than we are that we think, first of all, that we don't matter to Him, and second, that there would be no way we could ever come close to fulfilling any criteria He has for us.

One must assume, as a given, that we are not some intentional rogue, that we are familiar with the moral law of God (i.e. the Ten Commandments), that we are living within their protective mandates, and that we have surrendered to Jesus Christ the Son of God as our Savior and Lord.

Beyond that (and you might say that is enough), what is the next step?

In Micah 6:8 we read, "He has showed you, O man [person], 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."

Can we distill it down to those three things: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God? With Jesus Christ as our foundation, the answer is, obviously, yes!

Act justly. God is just. There is no shadow in God. He is moral perfection.

We are to act justly. We are to know right and do right. To act justly is to act with integrity. The same rule applies to all: no favoritism, no shadow of turning.

The world is not fair. Whenever we find ourselves in a position more favorable than others, we must do what we can to lift their station, to give relief, to free up—and all of that, first, at our own expense. This is more than being a social crusader; it is realizing the power of the gospel to lift people and societies, and it includes the practical helping hand when necessary.

Love mercy. The "golden rule": treat others like we want to be treated. We definitely want mercy for ourselves, but in our human nature we want others who seem to be deserving of it to get judgment.

When we love mercy, we want the best possible for others. Once again, the gospel is the most merciful means there is. Loving mercy is aligning ourselves with God: "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9b). If we have received mercy, we must not rest until every person within our reach has heard the gospel also.

Walk humbly with your God. First of all, be sure God is "yours" through a relationship with Jesus Christ His Son, and then give Him the proper place in your life.

"Walking with" encompasses every part of our life. We do not go anywhere without walking. There must be no hidden rooms in our relationship with God, no closed doors, no conversation He is not part of; every part of us exposed, transparent, and uncovered.

Walking humbly means to submit life and limb to God. It is recognizing our urgent need of Him in every area of our lives. Every thought and every imagination is made captive to God. In its simplest form, humility is saying yes to God.

There is no higher calling than to submit to God. His requirements are not tedious; they will lead us to always walk the road less traveled and to truly offer ourselves up to God as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1).