My Fair Share of Mercy

I got to thinking about mercy the other day. Mercy is God NOT being fair to me. Seriously, If God were fair I would be in so much trouble. The evil that is in my heart is so great that fairness from God would include only separation and pain for me. His mercy is what allows me to even speak to him, to even ask Him for more mercy, to even be alive. So I just became aware the other day of how much mercy I 'use up'. Anyway, I began thanking God for His mercy and I commented that I was using more than my share of His mercy. He just keeps showing mercy no matter how many times I disobey or forget about living my life for Him. Well, He put me straight by reminding me that there is no such thing as a 'fair share' of mercy. I am still thinking about this from a selfish, human perspective. Fairness would give none, but God gives limitlessly. Amazing!

What that means is that God is willing to give mercy, to give grace, to give love without limit or measure. We are the only ones who push in the plug at times to limit how much we can get, so to speak. How do I do that, I wondered. How do I limit the amount of mercy God can show me, or the amount of love? I am reminded of verses from the Word like Matthew 7:1-2 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" or Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" or James 2:13 "Judgment will be merciless to him who shows no mercy, mercy triumphs over judgment".

It seems that I can limit God's mercy to me by withholding it from others. I am convicted by this. At times I am a harsh critic of others. I can see the 'faults' and sins in other people and I find myself judging them. What am I thinking? How could I dare to criticize anyone after the mistakes I make? I remind myself of the servant in one of Jesus' parables who was forgiven a huge debt of money. He turned immediately around and threw a friend into prison because he couldn't pay back a tiny sum owed to the first man. What arrogance! What idiocy! Who am I, I ask myself. I must seek a heart free of judging and attempt to learn the law of mercy. Blessed are the merciful...


In Truth,
Stephen