Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
Good morning Zebras,
After the last posting I wasn’t surprised when I drew the attribute of compassion out of the box to write about next. Not only have I been thinking about God’s compassion in my own life, I’ve found that God wants us to remember both sides of His nature. Yes, He is holy and righteous but He is also mercy, love and compassion. Emphasizing one to the exclusion of the other is what gets us into trouble.
There are numerous incidents in the New Testament where Jesus shows compassion to the people including the feeding of The Five-Thousand. And His compassion motivated Him to action. Over and over the scripture says: Jesus looked at them with compassion and…healed them; taught them; fed them. I didn’t I find one place where it said Jesus looked at them with compassion and walked away.
That could be a z-mail all by itself. Do we look at others with that same type of compassion? Are we too moved to action when we see the lost and the hurting or do we simply just have sympathy? We feel sorry for them, but it doesn’t change our behavior.
But that really isn’t what I wanted to write about. What I wanted to write about was Peter. Peter knew Christ, Peter promised to stay with Jesus till the end and we all know how that worked out. Peter couldn’t live up to what he said he was going to do.
And yet Jesus showed great compassion on Peter when He restored not only their relationship but Peter’s ministry as well. At that point, Jesus just as easily could have rejected Peter and picked someone else.
In the Old Testament, Saul disobeyed God and lost the kingdom. Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of stew. And both men tried to get God to change His mind. Saul begged to keep and kingdom and the Bible says Esau “sought his blessings with tears.” But God did not change His mind.
Lately I have been struck by how often I am like Saul and Esau and how often Jesus treats me like He did Peter. There is no reason why God should continue to reveal Himself to me. I am not always faithful nor am I always obedient. I sometimes do what I want instead of what God has asked me to do and I sometimes pick the things of the world over the things of God. And yet He does not reject me.
If you are like me and you too often fall short of what you want to do for God, this is your word of encouragement. God loves you, and He knows your heart. He knows you desire to live a life honoring to Him and when He looks at you He does so with compassion and the desire and ability to help.
Love,
Jill
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