Have you ever had to give someone bad news?  It is certainly not a pleasant thing.  Imagine being one of the prophets of Israel in the Old Testament.  Your job is to go to the King or ruler of the land and tell them how they have fallen short and then tell them how God was going to judge them.  Every once in a blue moon the prophet would bring good news but mostly it wasn’t pleasant.  Let’s look today at the words of Micah found in chapter 1.

 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem Hear, you peoples, all of you,
    listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple. Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place;
    he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.  The mountains melt beneath him
    and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
    Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
    Is it not Jerusalem?  “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,  a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.

Micah faithfully delivered a difficult message to the people.  I think that is the biggest takeaway from this scripture for me.  God often calls us to do things that may be difficult or challenging.  I’m certain that Micah didn’t look forward to this task.  Yet, God called him to deliver the message and he did it faithfully.  What difficult task is God calling you to today?  Maybe it’s sharing your faith with a friend or neighbor.  Maybe it’s repairing a relationship that is broken.  Whatever difficult task God has in store for you, remember the example of Micah and other prophets who faithfully followed God and did difficult things.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave