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Jun 22, 2024 06:00am

Love Mercy

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As I think about mercy, there are numerous times it’s mentioned in scripture. Many times it’s a descriptor of God from his very early revelations of Himself in the Old Testament to the sending of His son, Jesus. Even in prophecies that tell of the end of time, scripture says that God’s mercy will be extended to as many as will receive it and turn from their sins up until the last moment of time. Mercy is also used to describe God’s response to those who repent of sin and seek Him. Prior to this repentance we are His enemies. As sinful people we cannot be in relationship with a Holy God until we turn from our sin and trust the blood of Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin. Because we are also called to be like Him Micah 6:8 says, He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you; to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” I know there are three commands here but I’d like to focus on the command to us as His followers to ‘love mercy’. This phrase caught my attention because it doesn’t just tell us to act mercifully but to love mercy.

As I was pondering what this might mean or how it might play out in our lives, I was reminded of our granddaughter whose parents recently took her and her little brother to have Spring pictures made in the bluebonnets. If you have never seen the seas of Texas bluebonnets in the Spring, you are missing out on a scene of true beauty and awe. Our granddaughter is four years old and is very empathetic, particularly toward animals and plants. And so, when her parents went to sit her down in the sea of flowers to take her picture, which she is typically happy to pose or show out for, she began to sob. When her parents inquired as to the reason for such despair, my granddaughter replied, “If I sit on them, they will die!”. She was in such despair over the suffering and possible demise of those bluebonnets that she was blinded to what a beautiful picture it would be of her or how she would look in that picture with a crying face. No, her concern was solely for the flowers and not for herself at that moment. What a beautiful picture of loving mercy!

Lest you think I am totally blind to my granddaughter’s humanity and inborn sin-nature, I do recognize the selflessness and compassion that she exercised at that moment was toward flowers and not toward people. I also recognize as another sin-cursed person that it’s easier with a flower. But scripture expounds on this a little bit for us in James 2:12-13. It says, “So speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment”. Two things stood out to me in these verses: 1) what does it mean to be judged under the law of liberty? 2) what does it mean when it says mercy triumphs over judgment?

The law of liberty seems contradictory, but it is not. Most think of abiding by the law as a burden but if the law that you are living by is the law of God, you understand that because God is our Creator, we can trust that these laws align with how He created us and are for our good. In fact, Psalm 1 says the man who delights in the law of God is blessed. He is described as blessed because he can stand firm in that law and not fall victim to Satan’s schemes, nor will he face the wrath of God for disobedience. But even though we may be able to delight in God’s law, we are not capable of keeping that law perfectly as Romans 3:23 tells us we are all sinners. In His mercy God sent Jesus to Earth to live a sinless life in our place fulfilling the law as it states in Matthew 5:17-20. And although Jesus lived a perfect life to replace our imperfect lives there is still a penalty for our sin. Romans 6:23 says that the penalty for our sin is death. So, Jesus made a sacrifice of Himself to pay our penalty and acts as our High Priest making a sacrifice to cover our sin and interceding for us before God, the Father as it says in Hebrews 8:1-13. All of this frees us to pursue righteousness and receive all its benefits without fear of punishment when we fail. I don’t know about you, but I am thankful that Jesus has provided a way for me to be ‘one who is judged under the law of liberty’!

Now let’s look at what it means for mercy to triumph over judgment? As I said before, there are many verses in scripture that talk about God’s mercy. Because mercy is one of God’s characteristics, as His children we are called to imitate Him in this way. But it is not just a suggestion because scripture indicates that if we do not extend mercy to others, we will not receive mercy ourselves. Even in verse 12 of the passage in James 2 we see this. This is because God declares when we are transformed by Him we will want to give this same mercy that we were extended. Mercy is a work that indicates our salvation and therefore rescues us from judgment and when we extend this mercy to others, it can rescue or triumph over judgment for them also.

As sad as it was to see the look of despair on my granddaughter’s face in those bluebonnet pictures, I treasure it and am glad it was captured. It is a reminder to me of what it’s like to love mercy for the sake of others.