I was listening to Joyce Meyer the other day talking about mercy.
In Matthew 12, Jesus told the story of David entering the house of God and eating the consecrated bread. That was against the law. The bread was only to be used for the priests. But David was starving and so he ate the bread. Did God strike him down? No. Did God condemn him? No. He gave David mercy though he didn’t deserve it.
Oh how I would be lost without the mercy and grace of God. Every day I wake is a new day to receive His mercy. Lamentations 3:23 reminds me that His mercies are new every morning.
God showed mercy to Moses after he killed a man.
He showed mercy to David for his adulterous ways.
He showed mercy to Jacob through all of his disobedience.
Does this mean that we receive mercy and never pay for our sins? No.
Joyce gave a great description of this:
Your child has a list of things to do. Clean his room. Do the dishes. Take the trash out. Feed the dog.
Then something happens. The neighborhood bully steals his ball and throws it in the sewer. He immediately comes running, crying out to you. What is the first thing you do? Check his list to make sure he’s done all the required tasks? No. You immediately run to him and make sure everything is ok. That doesn’t mean they won’t still have to do the things on their list and that they won’t be held responsible, but mercy comes first in their time of need.
God is like that with us. He doesn’t go over a checklist to make sure we’ve done our Bible study 30 minutes every day before he picks us up when we cry out. His mercies are new EVERY morning.
When Jesus picked his disciples do you think he went through a check list of qualifications they had to meet before he would let them follow him? If Jesus were hiring 12 men to follow him today, those disciples would hardly qualify.
- Simon had a temper and was emotionally unstable.
- Andrew had no qualities of leadership.
- John and James placed personal interest above company loyalty.
- Thomas demonstrated a questioning attitude.
- Matthew was blacklisted with the Better Business Bureau of Jerusalem.
- James and Thaddeus were manic-depressive.
The only disciple who would qualify would be Judas.
Why does God pick messed up people? Because they can have mercy on other messed up people.
George the attorney, Bob the dentist, and Charlie the airline pilot didn’t fit the mold. That doesn’t go to say that George, Bob, and Charlie couldn’t affect the Kingdom with their testimonies, but you catch my drift.
Thanking God today for his mercy instead of what I really deserve.
Click here to view Joyce’s complete broadcast on Imitating God’s Mercy.
Share something merciful God has done in your life.