SCRIPTURE: Luke (NIV) 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
OBSERVATION: Justice is getting what is deserved. Mercy is not getting what is deserved. Grace is getting what is not deserved.
That we are to be merciful implies that bad things will happen to us. We will be tempted to “get even” and return the wrong we have suffered. Those who are merciful do not repay the evil they have received.
APPLICATION: In this verse I am commanded to be merciful to others just as my Heavenly Father has been merciful to me. When God forgives me, He is saying that Jesus death on the cross is sufficient to pay for my sins; when I forgive others, I am saying that Jesus death on the cross is sufficient to pay for those sins too. The mercy that reaches to me can also reach through me.
This week at work, it was determined that our school busses were arriving at the school too early, so our check-in times were reset. We are paid by the hour, so cutting my time meant cutting my pay. 15 minutes equals 5.00 each day, equals $25 each week, equals $100 each month. I was bothered until I read this SOAP devotion from years ago. And then the Lord adjusted my perspective. I am not working for the bus company; I am working for the Lord! He is the one who directed me to drive a bus. His approval means more than any amount of money I receive for my labor. He knows what is needed. I am to be merciful in my thinking. I had forgotten for whom I was really working.
PRAYER: Lord, you are a merciful God. Your loving kindness is new to me every morning! How right it is that you require me to be the same way. May your mercy reach through me to others, to the bus company. Amen
Pastor Leon
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