Today's verse is one of my all-time favorites:

He has shown you, O mortal, 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. - Micah 6:8

We are used to thinking of God as the Eternal Taskmaster, the judgmental old fellow with a clipboard, tallying out misdeeds and the punishments they have earned. Pleasing him requires walking the spiritual tightrope. We've seen people and denominations that place a lot of emphasis on the 'worm-and-no-man' unworthiness and 'all fall short' reminder.

Because we are such disgusting sinners, we are urged to endless vigilance and harsh self-judgment, forever pulling back from freedom and joyful living to the restriction we think will please God. "Think" will please God, note, because such mindsets are quick to point out that God's ways are beyond our knowing, challenging us, "Who can know the mind of God?" They inspire a spiritual uncertainty in our minds.

Wanting, of course, to please God, we strive to obey the rules given us by our spiritual teachers and endlessly examine ourselves. But in Micah, and later in the teachings of Jesus himself, we can find peace. Be just, be merciful, be humble. In response to the gifts and blessings that rain upon us in our lives, God asks so little of us. How gracious is God!