Let Mercy Flow

Oh, how we love mercy! If mercy wasn't such a huge part of life, we wouldn't need to say, "excuse me" or "pardon me" or "I'm sorry."  Each expression is a way of saying ... oops, my bad, I messed up - now, I need a little ... yes, mercy. And, without exception, there will be one who refuses to excuse and pardon our blunder to which we're head-on with the unpleasantness of reality: it's our mistake so we get what we deserve, grin and bear up under the result of our mistake, move ahead ... without mercy. Luke writes, "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ [Jesus said] 'I tell you, this man went to his house justified ... for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.'" (Luke 18:13). What a picture of one who stands in need of mercy - like me and you. The Puritan prayed about his sinful state: "This I am by nature and practice, this Thy Word proclaims me to be, this I hope I feel myself to be; yet Thou has not left me to despair ... I have all the assurance I need that with Thee is plenteous redemption." Mercy ... not what I deserve but what God gives - freely and abundantly to those who stand humbly before Him. Let us remember our own need of daily mercy and the freedom in which God has given to those who trust Him; then, let us freely extend the same mercy to one another. Let mercy flow.