Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and
forgives the transgression of
the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
Micah 7:18
When the Apostle Paul preached in Athens - see Acts17 - he toured the city and was appalled by the hundreds of idols dedicated to almost every kind of pagan god imaginable. Appalled? Yes. And yet, he used their polytheism (many gods) to his advantage.
Seeing a statue dedicated to an unknown god, he said essentially, "What you proclaim as unknown I proclaim to you as known. The God who created everything, doesn't need to live in idols created by human hands."
This passage from Micah is very similar. When the prophet says, "Who is a God like you," Micah - whose name means, "who is like Yahweh" - isn't polytheisticly wondering which of many gods is like Yahweh. Rather, he is using the people's polytheism to his advantage.
He is saying essentially, if you're going to believe in some sort of god, why don't you believe in one "who pardons sin and forgives ... transgression ...?" Why don't you trust in the God who "do[es] not stay angry forever but delight[s] to show mercy"?
"Pardon" and "forgiveness" and a heart that "delights" in "mercy" rather than "anger." That is our God, proclaims the prophet, subtly imploring, "Why would you need another?"
Why would YOU need another?
Why would you need another priority, another truth, any worldly hope, any temporal security? As Elijah once said to God's people, 1 Kings 18:21, "'How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal [or essentially any other priority on earth can deliver], then follow him.' [But] the people did not answer him a word."
Today is your day to answer. Why would you ever need another priority?
In Christ's Love,
a guy who wants "eternal delight"
(By the way wouldn't “eternal delight”
be a good name for a decadent
high calorie dessert?
(Oops. Do you see how easily
we get confused and seduced?
I'm hungry already!)
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