Mercy should make a difference

Today: 2 Kings 12-14

Webster's dictionary defines mercy as compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power.Translation: Mercy is compassion given to someone who doesn't deserve it--or granted to one by someone else with greater authority.

When you've experienced mercy, what was your response?

Today's chapters had a few interesting examples of God's mercy. This one stood out to me most:

Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria—
a rule of seventeen years.
He lived an evil life before God...
Exasperated, God was furious with Israel
and turned them over to Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad son of Hazael.
This domination went on for a long time.

Then Jehoahaz prayed for a softening of God's anger,
and God listened.
He realized how wretched Israel had become
under the brutalities of the king of Aram.
So God provided a savior for Israel
who brought them out from under Aram's oppression.
The children of Israel were again able to live at peace in their own homes.
But it didn't make any difference: They didn't change their lives...

A few things I noticed in this brief story? God was gracious enough to listen to an evil king--and even beyond listening, He provided an escape. You would think that life would be different for slaves granted freedom.

I picture it like a near-death experience: People who face death often re-think their lives...if they survive, they are changed forever. They have a different value for what's really important.

You would think that the freed slaves granted mercy by God Himself would face life with a different perspective. But they didn't. Mercy changed their circumstances, but they didn't allow it to change their lives.

When you and I are granted mercy--by God or other people--it should move us. Compassion and grace are not meant to be discarded or treated with a flippant response. When our lives are touched by mercy, our lives should be redefined. Mercy should make a difference.

Tomorrow: 2 Kings 15-17

Bought back to rule

(Originally written November 9)

Today: Revelation 4-8

Earlier this week, I saw a short TV news story about First Lady Michelle Obama. This story was absolutely incredible--no matter what your political views are. In the story, I heard that genealogists traced Michelle’s roots back through American history. One of Michelle’s ancestors was a slave girl, purchased in the American South for something like several hundred dollars. Generations later, her descendent, Michelle Obama, became the First Lady. Wow!

Did you know that many of us share a similar story?

We were slaves, too…to sin. Someone paid a price for us, only it was far more than a few hundred bucks. Our lives and our souls were (and are) priceless—He bought us with His own blood. Here’s what I noticed in today’s passage:

Worthy!...
Slain!
Paying in blood,
you bought men and women,
bought them back from all over the earth,
bought them back for God.
Then you made them a Kingdom,
Priests for our God,
Priest-kings to rule over the earth.

People who believe and have accepted Christ’s payment for their sins are described as “priest-kings” in this passage. That may sound kind of strange—I mean, we’re not all Presidents or First Ladies, right?

This is my own personal view, but I think the passage is saying that by believing in Him and accepting what He did—we can walk in an amazing type of freedom. We can be like freed slaves who now rule over things that He ruled over for us—sin, Hell, death, guilt, shame. And like the priests in the Old Testament, we now have the freedom to access God directly—through Christ. That’s pretty incredible, too, don’t you think?

Tomorrow: Revelation 9-12