Walk humbly with your God

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)

In my endless scrolling of social media I came across a post recently - “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants,” attributed to someone named Epictetus. Epictetus (according to Google) was a Greek philosopher, born into slavery who over the course of his life taught that philosophy is a way of life, not just a theoretical discipline. I ignored the rest of the video, which ironically seemed to be selling me something, to ponder the statement. In looking up the definition of ‘want’ I found two, somewhat to me contradictory, definitions. One was of a desire for something but the other was a lack or deficiency of something, which seemed to me a better description of a need than a want. Still I liked the overall sentiment of both definitions, that a truly wealthy person has few desires and lacks for nothing. 

While not a Bible verse, I took inspiration from the quote and started considering what value it might offer to the Christian perspective. Something I’ve appreciated more and more over the years is how simple God has made the formula for a good life. The ways God built us to sustain ourselves, we eat food which is fun and enjoyable. We sleep, which is pleasant and relaxing. We bathe (which I find a delightful pastime with a nice candle and a bath bomb). We connect with one another, which can be challenging, but those moments of laughter or peace or good conversation with one another are joyful. To see and be seen.
 
As human beings our basic needs are few and barring unfortunate circumstances straightforward to supply. Yet we complicate everything. Eating becomes a minefield of food labels and mindsets - organic, processed, junk, seasonal, too much, too little. Sleep escapes us as we pursue work or entertainment; the long standard human practice of napping is nearly non-existent in the busy western world. We try perfect connection with technology and make ourselves more isolated than ever.
 
A big by-product of how many of us live our lives nowadays is also the constant stimulation of desire. We can compare and contrast our lifestyles so easily and powerful marketing forces refine their art of building narratives around us from our childhoods about what success, beauty, contentment look like and what products we need to get there.
 
As children of God we are co-heirs of a kingdom that has come through Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Everlasting life, salvation and a relationship restored with God have been provided to us at no cost and again the way to life has been made simple - perhaps hard to work out, but simple. To pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Even this often gets complicated amongst many religious denominations, mindsets, perspectives and cultural add-ons, but my sister loves to quote Micah to me “what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
 
Just as we can find ourselves with houses cluttered from unnecessary purchases or with our minds fixated on intense goals and ideas of what the future needs to look like, I wonder if our religion can get overburdened with an idea of what faith in action should look like. What internal policing might bring condemnation on ourselves and what comparisons might leave us feeling as if we’ve not moved much further from the spot we met Jesus in.
 
Perhaps it’s a good moment to remember that His burden is easy, His yoke is light and often there’s little more to it than walking humbly with Him day by day - as Adam and Eve did in the Garden, children by the Father’s side.

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash