Father, we are in the midst of winter – cold and blustery. We may (or may not) get a good snow tonight but we are blessed with a toasty home around us and the warmth of Your abiding presence within us. What contentment there is in You!

Luke 6:35-36 (<<click to read the passage)

We get what we deserve, right? At least those who perpetrate evil deeds should get their just deserts. Pedophiles, rapists, murderers, those who “punish” their own children by starving them and caging them until they are the point of death – they all fall into the abysmal pot of the detestable refuse of life! …don’t they?

Our society today seems to fall heavily on that side of thought. Incarceration is too good for many of them. Many Regular Joe’s would be crying “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!”

That is from the Bible, you know. It is found in the Law given to the Israelites by God through their leader Moses. Exodus 21:23-25 reads,

“…the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.”

I wrote about this a little over two years ago (see REVENGE!) but to cap that post, this law was not meant to give us free rein to punish the guilty – in actuality, it was included in the Law to place limits on those who would seek to vent their anger on those responsible for suffering and pain.

I couldn’t leave the passage that I’ve been looking at now for a couple of days without addressing verses 35 and 36. We are called to act “as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.” Verse 36 in the Amplified Bible reads,

“Be merciful (responsive, compassionate, tender) just as your [heavenly] Father is merciful.”

Merciful… Responsive… Compassionate… Tender…

Hmmm… it just doesn’t seem fair, does it? What about all the heinous acts committed against innocent victims?

Let’s redirect our perspective. How about us? Is there anyone who is not guilty? If others had access to our closets, how many skeletons would they find tucked away in the corners?

Let’s redirect our perspective once more. If we, in faith, have confessed our sins to our Heavenly Father, how does He see them? His response? “What sins?”

Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Romans 5:9 (AMP)

He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust. Psalm 103:10-14 (NLT)

Lord Jesus, may we seek Your heart of compassion. May we realize that sin is sin and that we are all guilty. May we extend the mercy that is graciously extended to one and all by You. Strengthen us, O Lord.

Feb 12th, 2020, Wed, 12:33 pm