Intentional Transactions
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
Do Justice – Don’t be fooled! The Bible never suggests that doing justice is haphazard, accidental or purposeless. You don’t do justice by simply being a good citizen and minding your own business. If you’re going to do justice, you will need to be deliberate, focused and goal-driven. You’ll never get there without some serious attention to intentions.
The Hebrew phrase, im-asho ot mishpat, consists of two words, ‘asah and mishpat. We know this second word, mishpat. It is court language, often describing the accurate and proper decision of a judge. But it is more than that. It is the term for the execution of righteousness and divine orderliness in the creation. It is God’s character made manifest in deliberate decisions. It is redemptive living.
This word is combined with the verb ‘asah, a verb that covers the range of performing all sorts of activities characterized by deliberate purpose, moral obligation and goal orientation. In other words, doing justice requires intentional action to bring about right relationships and order. It will never happen by fortuitous serendipity. If you want to do justice, you have to plan to do justice.
This changes things. God requires me to act with deliberate intent to bring about righteousness and order. That means He expects me to plan, purpose and perform actions that cause real change in this fallen world. I do not meet this requirement if I am unconsciously just going about my life, fitting in to the moral society as needed. I do not do justice unless I am quite specific about my actions that are designed and determined to redeem the world for the Kingdom. There is no such thing as passive compliance with this command.
Are you doing justice, or are you simply taking care of your own morally insulated life? Have you made reconciliation, recovery and redemption a deliberate goal? Do you have an action plan for Kingdom regeneration? Or are you just floating along with the good graces of the moral majority, keeping your nose clean but never getting your hands dirty in the work of bringing God’s will to earth?
God tells us exactly what He requires. Not one tiny fragment of His expectation involves passive compliance. If you are doing justice, you will instantly be able to bring to mind specific redemptive acts. If you can’t think of any, you’d better start asking for forgiveness.
