Ceasing Our Evil Lifestyles
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesLike so many other prophets of God, Micah spoke to a people hardened by sin (cf. Hebrews 3:7-12 NKJV). They were a “religious” people, but theirs was a empty shell of religion in which God was not pleased (cf. Micah 6:6-7 NKJV; Isaiah 1:12-15 NKJV). Yes, they “professed” to worship, but their worship had become only a ritual — it was nothing more than “will worship” (Colossians 2:18-23 KJV; cf. Matthew 15:1-9 NKJV; Titus 1:14 NKJV).
At the same time they professed to worship God, they also worshipped idols (cf. Isaiah 44 NKJV). More than any other problem, they had become very materialistic. In Micah 2:1-2, the prophet emphasizes their greedy faults, and when Micah points out their sins, they refused to listen (Micah 2:6 NKJV). They wanted to hear something more pleasing to their ears (Isaiah 30:8-10 NKJV).
Micah said they loved the preachers who lied (Micah 2:11 NKJV). Their preachers were for hire (Micah 3:11 NKJV). Both Micah and Isaiah tell the people what is needed to clean up their evil lifestyle.
Micah told them:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 NKJV).
Isaiah told them:
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16-17 NKJV).
Like Micah and Isaiah, we live in the same kind of materialistic society today — everyone looking out for himself — striving to get as much as he can get, no matter what the cost or who it hurts. It’s sad to say, but some Christians have the same mindset.
Their worship is ritualistic and vain (they are just going through the motions). They are just as materialistically minded as those in the world about them. When it comes to preaching God’s truth, they don’t want to hear anything negative about removing any sin from their life. All they want is a weekly “pat-on-the-back, tell us what we want to hear” type of preaching.
Paul warned us that these conditions would exist (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NKJV). Brethren, if we have any sin in our life, may we have the fortitude and backbone to heed the warning of Micah, Isaiah, and Paul, and then cease our evil lifestyles (Colossians 3:1-10 NKJV; cf. Romans 12:1-2 NKJV; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 NKJV).
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