This week’s devotions are based on Week 6 of The Prophets: Micah (WATCH HERE)
Micah 6:6–7 “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
Micah paints a vivid picture of a people desperate to make things right with God. They know they’ve sinned. They sense His displeasure. And they respond the way most of us do when we’ve messed up: What can I do to make it up to You?
Their suggestions escalate quickly. Normal sacrifices turn to absurd extravagance, even to offering their own child. The tone is almost sarcastic, but tragically accurate. When guilt grips the heart, we often move toward rigor and ritual instead of relationship and repentance.
The people’s logic is familiar: If I try harder, maybe God will forgive me. If I give more, maybe He’ll be impressed. If I suffer enough, maybe I’ll earn His favor back. Yet Micah’s entire book shows that God’s concern isn’t about the scale of our offering but the state of our hearts.
They were still bringing sacrifices to the temple. Outwardly, religion was thriving. But inwardly, their hearts were focused on personal gain, a lack of compassion and their own version of truth. (Micah 3:9–11; 2:1–2).
So God, through Micah, exposes the futility of human striving. What God wants cannot be bought, bartered, or balanced through effort. You can’t “work off” guilt through religious intensity. You can’t repay grace. It was never a loan. You can’t impress a God who already owns all things.
When we bring our “best effort” to God to earn His favor, we’re still missing the point. Our best effort isn’t bad, but it’s inadequate when it replaces humility and faith. Trying to work our way back to God is like polishing the outside of a cup while the inside is still dirty (Luke 11:39). It might look holy, but it leaves the heart unchanged.
The gospel answers Micah’s question once and for all: “With what shall I come before the Lord?”
The answer is not with an offering we provide, but with a Savior God provides.
Jesus Christ is the only One who could come before God perfectly. He fulfilled the law we broke, bore the judgment we deserved, and offered Himself, not thousands of rams, but His own life, as the true and final sacrifice.
Now, when we come before the Lord, we come not to repay, but to receive. We come not to impress, but to surrender. We come not in rigor or ritual, but in relationship.
Micah’s question drives us to the foot of the cross, where we stop saying, “Look what I can give You,” and start saying, “Thank You for what You’ve given me.”
Apply: Stop trying to earn what’s already been given! Grace is not a reward for effort. It’s a gift for the undeserving. When you feel guilt or failure, resist the urge to “do more” to balance the scales. Instead, confess your need and receive God’s mercy through Christ.
Prayer: Father, You see through my efforts to impress You. You know when I try to earn what You freely give. Forgive me for turning faith into performance and worship into repayment.
Thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus, who gave Himself once for all so that I could come before You without fear. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
PS…Happy 84th birthday today to my dad and faithful devotion reader, Gerald Geiger!