Micah's good plan

Yesterday I wrote about how our plans shape the world. The prophet Micah describes how the wicked plans of the people of Israel become evil actions:

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning's light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields and seize them.
They defraud a man of his home,
a fellowman of his inheritance.
Micah 2:1-2

Micah goes on to proclaim God's judgment against the Israelites for their evil. But then, at one crucial point, Micah shifts his perspective. Instead of speaking against the people, he confesses his own sin, asking what he may do about his guilt:

With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD
require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
verses 6:6-8

We are not forgiven of our evil deeds through material sacrifices, Micah writes. What does God seek from us? That we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. It almost seems like Micah is writing that we need a new plan, a plan God has already shown to us, only we never before put it into practice. God desires a change in our character so that we reflect the character of God, who "desires mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6). The sacrifice God asks of us goes beyond any possession we may offer; God requires us to give him our very heart.

It is in the heart where we make our plans. With God's help, may our hearts so change that even our dreams and intentions align with the dreams and intentions of God, and so also our actions.