Disciples Show Mercy Like Their Father
It is SO easy. TOO easy. It's so easy to withhold mercy from people who have hurt you, especially when you are in the throes of pain they’ve caused or brooding over such pain. It's easy to crave others getting what they deserve. What is not easy is showing mercy toward your enemies, even if they are only enemies temporarily. Yet that is what God asks of us, AND that is just what God does too, forgiving countless sins at the request of His only beloved Son Jesus who prayed that our sins not be held against us (and who continues to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father today). It is what He did for you. And it wasn’t easy. Ask Jesus. It cost Him His life.
Do you know what else can be easy? Forgetting how merciful God has been toward us. This week is an encouragement for us to do what is not easy, but which is asked of us by God: Show mercy and act like our heavenly father who shows mercy to people who don't deserve it. It is a week to pray for a deepening of a heart within us to become more like him.
Prayer for the Week
Father God, I am grateful that you do not remember my sins when you forgive. I don’t want to remember my sin in such a way that holds me back. Nor do I want to forget my sinfulness when dealing with others who sin against me. Teach me how to forgive those who trespass against me as You forgive me my trespasses. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Micro-Meditation
Psalm 51:3-6
- For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me. - Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge. - Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me. - Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Read the versus of the Psalm.
Mark the words or phrases that catch your attention.
Meditate: talk (or better, write) with God about those words. Ask him to impress things upon your heart and mind; expect responses.
Pondering Point
King David had a strong conviction that God had a right to judge him (vs 4). But the first lines David penned here (vs. 1) are a cry for mercy from the One who had every right to deny him the very mercy he prayed for. What determines your attitude/stance toward God as you approach Him?