A man went to his doctor for his annual physical. He was not looking forward to it. Scales don’t lie. Sure enough, the doctor told him that if you don’t change your diet and start getting some physical exercise you are going to have serious heart issues. The doctor waited for an acknowledgement that the gentleman understood what he was saying. The man shook his head and said, “I get it, I have to eat better and move more.” The doctor reassured him that these two things would change his life for the better, and he didn’t need any costly prescriptions, just some tennis shoes, gym shorts, and a lot more vegetables and lean meat.

On the way home, he drove through Krystal's and ordered a four-pack meal with a shake as an upgrade. He knew in his heart it was not the thing he was supposed to do, but appetite won out over wisdom. 

There seems to be a great disconnection between what we know and what we do in many parts of our lives; diet is just one of them. In our Christian lives, there seems to be a disconnect that is systemic with being human. Every age and generation wrestles with it. Micah the prophet, along with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc, point out this disconnect to God’s people. When the true King came, he sounded almost like Micah in his assessment of the religious community he walked into. James likewise devotes a whole book dealing with this disconnect. 

What Micah has to say is that there are some things that all our religion and ritual will not cover, and some things that God, in his love for his people, will ignore. It is a hopeful word, strangely, because as a good parent knows, there are things that we will do with and for our children that they do not like and we do not either, but love is so jealous for their future glory, hard things are demanded. That or something like that is where we find ourselves on Sunday, and God raises his voice to his beloved people.