Let me start out by paraphrasing the first two parts of this article: You and I will make mistakes in this life. The only one to ever do it right was Jesus. However, it is absolutely vital to know that when we do miss it, we need to run to God-not from God. The bible says that God is rich in mercy. His mercy is our pencil eraser. When we call on God, for forgiveness of sins, His great mercy swallows up our mistakes!
In Luke 18, Jesus gives us a perfect illustration of the power of God’s mercy. He tells of a parable about two men that went into the temple to pray. One man attended church regularly, and the other man was a sinner. Luke 18:11, says the man that went to church prayed like this, …God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. (12) I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
However, the sinner prayed a different prayer. Luke 18:13 says his prayer went like this, …God be merciful to me a sinner. Now look at what Jesus says in the next verse, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other… What is Jesus saying? Good deeds do not make you right before God. Now don’t get me wrong, we are supposed to do those things that the first man did. However, our motive should not be if I can just do enough good deeds, then God may accept me. As Christians, we are right before God because of the power of His mercy and the precious blood of Jesus!
If you have ever read Psalm 136, I think that you can see the Holy Spirit is trying to drill something in our heads. Twenty-six times, the Holy Spirit through David pens this inspirational phrase: for his mercy endureth for ever. One definition for the word endure is to continue in existence. That is exactly what God’s mercy has done through out the ages! His mercy has continued to exist. Just think of all the sins that have been committed since Adam and Eve. Yet, God stills has fresh mercy for us everyday!
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