Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
If you’ve spent any time in church, you have heard that God gives mercy. But do we really understand what that looks like? Do we really comprehend what mercy from God looks like? There are numerous stories throughout the Bible that paint the pictures of mercy for us. Time and time again, we see Jesus have mercy on the sinners, the unclean, and the degenerates of the day. He was constantly forgiving sins and hanging out with the outsiders. Jesus loved to give mercy and certainly not because anyone deserved it. The law of the time was strict and Jesus knew that we all deserved death when it came to reconciling our sins to the law. But he stepped in and became mercy in the flesh: a living sacrifice for all of us.
When I think about all the terrible things I’ve done in my life and the goodness that Jesus is, it blows my mind to try to grasp the love that He has for us. When we are out riding, it’s easy to say “All the beauty that this mountain has, God sure does love us.” But when we look at the redemption that Jesus gives to us in our lives, that’s when we can really see that Jesus gives mercy to us endlessly and without conditions on our end.
We should love and show mercy like Jesus loves mercy.
No matter our past or current circumstances, Jesus wants you to receive his unending, unconditional, no strings attached mercy and love. Jesus is our father and he has this tenderness to Him that is hard to understand. He wants to give freely to us. Are we ready to just receive it?
Let’s flip this over now: How can we be merciful to others? The best way to start is to ask God to soften our heart to mercy, receive it, and then look for ways to give it to others. Maybe there’s a situation that arises on the mountain and you just know Jesus is asking you to show some mercy, go for it! See what Jesus does through the situation.
Challenge
It’s often hard for us to understand that Jesus gives mercy with no strings attached.
This week spend some time praying that God would open your heart to:
Examine mercy in your life. Freely receive God’s love despite your shortcomings.
Extend mercy to those around you that you can be a light on the hill.
By Sam Torres | Denver, Colorado