Micah 1 & 2

***Micah 1***

I have a friend that had a heart attack a few years ago. He was told that his heart attack was caused by his smoking and that he needed to quit. He was a younger guy when he had the heart attack and there is still a chance for him to live a long, healthy life. But he still secretly smokes. Very few people knowe he does, but he does.

My wife loves to watch the television show The Biggest Loser. In the beginning of the season they take the unhealthy contestants to see a doctor, and the doctor tells them how unhealthy they are. He tells them what their obesity is doing to their body and the morbid truths related to being that unhealthy. He tries to give them the worst case scenario so they are scared enough to change their lives.

That is the role of a prophet. That is what Micah is doing. Micah is pronouncing God's judgment to the Israelites, Micah is giving them the worst case scenario so that they will change.

God is threatening to turn their land into a heap... to destroy it unless they change their ways. The good news is that it is not too late. Just like my friend and the contestants on The Biggest Loser there is time to turn their lives around and do what God requests of them so that they might be spared from destruction.

I don't know what is going on in your life that is causing you pain or is an obstacle to your relationship with God. But as long as you are reading this blog I promise you, it is never to late to change your life. I'm not writing about salvation, Jesus already accomplished that, what I'm writing about it living the best life possible.

I know the Joel Osteen Corporation came out with a book about it... but I don't promise wealth. But we can often control our health, we can control how we value relationships and we can decide if we want to strive to be a better person.

Hear the prophet... he is speaking to all of us.

***Micah 2***

Finally, some words of hope at the end of the second chapter.

Though pain and suffering are coming, God promises that He will be present throughout. God will be a shepherd tending his flock.

I think that we lose out on a lot of the shepherd imagery in the bible because there aren't many shepherds left. I think that I am in the minority of all Americans because I actually know someone who is a shepherd, although it's more of a hobby than a job.

Shepherding is one of the world's oldest professions, dating back to over 6,000 years ago. The job of a shepherd is to feed, tend to and protect the flock of sheep.

God feeds His people, with manna in the desert and with bread and wine every Sunday.

God tends to His flock through the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

God is a protector. Through Jesus' death on a cross we are protected from sin, death, and the devil.

It was a promise made to a group of people nearly 3,000 years ago and it is a promise for us today. Through the pain and suffering of this life, God is there.

But unlike sheep, we have the freedom to live the life we want to live. We can run away from the shepherd and find the places where wolves and demons dwell.

We can let the shephered be the shepherd by acknowledging that we are sheep and trusting that the shepherd has a better path for us.