by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton
Jesus replied, “Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:28
Mercy and Neighborliness go hand in hand. Both examples come from the same parable, the parable of the Good Samaritan. That parable started with a question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus answered with a question “What is written in the Law?”
Love God – Love others. It really is that simple.
“Do this and you will live,” Jesus said. Then he gave us an example of what 'this' looks like:
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to e going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Luke 10:30-35
Only the Samaritan showed mercy. The Samaritan bandaged his wounds, carried him to safety and ensured that he was taken care of out of his abundance he paid for the inn.
Then Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”
Do likewise. Mercy is active, it requires doing.
The Samaritan did not toss coins at the injured man. He bound his wounds, picked him up and paid for the inn. Money was involved but the money came after the doing.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting he former. Matthew 23:23
You can give a tenth of every dime that you have ever earned but without love your money is meaningless. You can read the Bible through a thousand times but if you do not apply the lessons to your own life you haven’t learned a thing. You can abide by every nit-picky code of conduct in the book but without justice, mercy and faithfulness you have broken the law into a million useless pieces.
Here is a harder thought.
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. Romans 9:15-16
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting he former. Matthew 23:23
You can give a tenth of every dime that you have ever earned but without love your money is meaningless. You can read the Bible through a thousand times but if you do not apply the lessons to your own life you haven’t learned a thing. You can abide by every nit-picky code of conduct in the book but without justice, mercy and faithfulness you have broken the law into a million useless pieces.
Here is a harder thought.
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. Romans 9:15-16
The ‘it’ here is mercy and compassion, salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn it; we are totally dependent upon God for salvation. Therefore, we should show mercy where mercy is unjustified. No one can earn mercy, not from God and not from us. That being said there can be no requirement for mercy. Yet we must show mercy anyway.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
He has shown us how to love by loving us.
He has shown us how to forgive by forgiving us.
He has shown us how to have mercy by having mercy on us.
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it is worth it
Wendy
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
He has shown us how to love by loving us.
He has shown us how to forgive by forgiving us.
He has shown us how to have mercy by having mercy on us.
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it is worth it
Wendy
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