Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

I pray you were blessed and encouraged in your worship on the Lord’s Day in your local church. Hearing the word of God strengthens and encourages the child of God to live by faith and light the way in a world filled with so much darkness. Too often people choose to live in the shadows of their past, bound in the darkness of mistakes, misfortunes, and failures, with seemingly no way out. Our scripture passage declares to us that our heavenly Father “is merciful.” He is a “God of mercy” (Ps 59:10). “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Ps 103:8). When Jesus walked on the earth, He demonstrated mercy as He went about healing and casting out demons. On one occasion two blind men cried out to Jesus “Lord, have mercy on us…and moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight” (Mt 20:30-34). On another occasion, He wept when He saw the people’s sorrow that Lazarus’s death caused (Jn 11:33). He demonstrated His greatest mercy to those with spiritual needs. He healed the paralytic and forgave his sin (Lk 5). And while hanging on the Cross, dying for the sin of the world, He prayed for those who crucified Him saying “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). In each of these occasions Jesus experienced compassion for the needs of others and expressed the “tender mercy” of the Father’s love. My friend, God has demonstrated His love and mercy towards us in that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). We who receive salvation through Jesus Christ, also receive His mercy and are called to “be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” Those who receive God’s mercy should demonstrate His mercy through their daily living. Today, think on the mercies that God has for you and be moved with compassion towards the needs of others. “Through the tender mercy of our God…give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Lk 1:78-79) that they may come to know the forgiveness of sin through salvation in Jesus Christ. Father, thank You for Your tender mercies and the forgiveness of my sin. Open my eyes to the needs of others and move me with Your Spirit of compassion that others may know Your love and gracious, tender mercy. In the blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.