One day Jesus sat down and had a meal with a sinner by the name of Matthew. In fact, scripture tells us that during the meal many more sinners came to the table for food and fellowship. For this, Jesus was scorned and questioned by the religious elit and affluent. However, Jesus simply told these leaders that he desires mercy over all other forms of religious activity. “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matthew 9:13) This parralleled what God spoke through the prophet Micah when it was written “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8)
God desires mercy from us just like with His son Jesus Christ, whom we are to imitate. So how then can we live a life of mercy. I believe there are five core values which if practiced, will develop and accentuate a life of mercy.
BROKENNESS
Living in humility before God and others
REPENTANCE
Leaving the past behind and embracing destiny
INTIMACY
Loving the presence of the Lord
DEPENDENCE
Leaning upon God’s sovereignty and holiness
EMPOWERMENT
Learning divine purpose
Living a life that embodies these values will bring blessing and mercy into one’s life. In Christs greatest sermon while standing on the mount He boldly declared “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy”. Today’s culture needs to see a true expression of Gods mercy. So many do not know or simply cannot understand the mercy of God for their eternal salvation. Let us choose to become that visible expression of mercy to those we come in contact with so that they might accept the eternal mercy from God through His Son Jesus. This can and must be done as we live a life of mercy.
Eternal Mercy 