GodSprings - 04, March, 2017

Am I Merciful?

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Matthew 5:7

A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry.

A few people gathered to see if he was okay and to tell him how sorry they were. In the midst of the words of pity, one man handed the boy a quarter.

Then he turned to the group and said, “I care twenty-five cents worth. How much do the rest of you care?”

The religion that Jesus faced in His day was shallow and superficial. It was more ritualistic on the outside than being inside. Jesus confronts this external, self-righteous leaders and people and tells them that what really matters is what is on the inside. The poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful and so on. All these are internal qualities.

The first four beatitude that we dealt with were all inner principles an inner attitude. What you see of yourself before God. This beatitude which is the fifth in the series while being an inner attitude also begins to reach out and touch others. When there is poverty of spirit and you realize that you are nothing but a beggar, you become willing to give and you’ll be merciful.

When Jesus said blessed are the merciful, for they will be blessed does it mean that if we’re merciful then everybody is going to be merciful to us? I don’t think so. The best illustration for this is Jesus Christ himself.

He came into the world and was the most merciful human being that ever lived. He never did anything to harm anybody. He reached out to the sick and He healed them. He made the blind to see, deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. From the beginning of His ministry till the end it was one of showering mercies. But Jesus’ life shows mercy given doesn’t mean mercy returned.

Jesus’ life proclaims and tells that his followers aren’t takers but givers.

This lent can we be on the giving side without any expectation to receive?