It is only in our most desperate moments that we cry the cry that God swiftly answers, for it is that cry that is most disinterested, urgent, and heart-rending. God is merciful and knows how to give good gifts to His children.
If there is a lesson I must and desire most exquisitely to learn is that of loving mercy. It is exquisite not for its luxuriousness or for its idleness, but rather for its prized quality that surpasses all qualities in human to human relationship in the Lord. It is, or should be, our most common and yet coveted interface.
Why do I say this?
God has said in the OT to love mercy (Micah 6:8). There were only three things required of Man. Love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly with God. Not any sacrifice of enormous proportions could satisfy God's requirement for the redemption from our sins.
When the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, He said to the Pharisees, "Go, and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'" (Matthew 12:7)
Mercy is what the Good Samaritan did for his enemy, a Jew, when robbers attacked and left this Jewish man for dead.
I have commited recurrently the sin of wishing ill on my enemies. So, I am writing this entry as much for myself as for you, dear Reader. I have struggled with unforgiveness since early in my childhood, but most markedly in the last 20 years. Yet how does Jesus show mercy to me? Recently, He has put in my mind's eye a picture of Him riding on a donkey's foal, and intimating the verses of a prophet, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King comes sitting on the foal of an donkey." (John 12:15) He has also been teaching me that HE is gentle and humble at heart, that we can take up His yoke upon us for His yoke is easy and His burden, light; and we can find rest unto our souls in Him. He graciously impresses this upon my consciousness despite the enormity and abomination of my curses against my enemies. I am as evil as any convict, as thieving as any robber, as deceiving as any apostate; yet, God impresses His presence upon me, lets me feel guilty and horrible in the aftermath of my sins. Like the wayward sheep whose legs were purposely broken , and carried on the Shepherd's shoulders until all healed, I hobble lamely and quickly to His side and bleat. He hears and gathers me up into His love-worn arms. He holds me. I am sorry again, but comforted and safe.
Mercy is the bridge between enemies. Jesus is our bridge between us and God, the Father. Needless to say, then, Christ is merciful. Let us accept His love and salvation and subsequently show all humanity the goodness and mercy that Jesus Christ the Messiah has put in our hearts, knowing that we are no better than they, and that Jesus has forgiven us. And then, you know the old hymn sung first by King David: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life.
Love, true and complete love from God, does not fail. Where there is this love, there is no fear.
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first commandment. And the second is like this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to Him, Right, Teacher, according to truth You have spoken, that God is one, and there is no other besides Him. And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love the neighbor as himself, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. And seeing that he had answered intelligently, Jesus said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no one dared to question Him any more.(Mar 12:29-34)
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Mat 22:35-40)
