The
story is told of Napoleon and a mother. A mother once approached Napoleon seeking
a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a
certain offense twice and justice demanded death. "But I
don’t ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."
Napoleon replied, "But your son does not deserve mercy". "Sir,"
the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is
all I ask for.” Napoleon thought for a minute and spared the woman’s
son.
Dear brother and sister
in Christ, the past few posts were about God’s grace. In the next few posts we
will take a look at mercy. Coming to mercy the first thing you and I need to
realize is our need for mercy. The mother
in the above story recognizes the need for the Emperor’s mercy. The tax
collector’s actions and plea “‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’(Luke 18:13) show his
realization of the need for God’s mercy. Even as the crowd rebukes them, the
two blind men recognize their need of Jesus’ mercy and “cried out all the more, “Lord,
have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:29-34). We need God’s
mercy to function in His Kingdom.
(Does
Jesus show mercy to those who might not know about him? Please read Acts 9:1-19
and 1 Timothy 1:12-14 -more on mercy later)
Dear Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner! Amen.
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