There will be no mercy in judgment for anyone who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy overrules judgment. James 2:13
Most people, from the time of childhood, have heard the story of Jonah who was swallowed by a big fish. As an adult, take time to read the entire book of Jonah. It is short--only 4 small chapters.
God gave Jonah a task, and he ran away. Hate was Jonah’s motivator, not fright. He despised the evil city of Nineveh, and he knew that God would probably show mercy instead of judgement. Jonah would rather have judgment. God would rather show mercy.
God’s mercy was first shown to the sailors of the boat which Jonah used for his getaway plan. As soon as they tossed Jonah out into the raging sea, the storm abated, and the waves calmed. The sailors gave a sacrifice to this God and vowed to serve Him.
God’s mercy was shown secondly when Jonah was spit out of the great fish’s mouth, right smack on the beach, no less. God still wanted Jonah to fulfill the task handed to Him. God had Jonah’s attention for sure at this point. Jonah’s message was short, “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed.”
God’s mercy was shown thirdly when the king repented and ordered everyone to put on mourning clothes and to restrain from food and drink. Whether the people of Nineveh actually repented in their hearts is debatable as you will see in chapter 4, but God relented from a plan of destruction.
We would think that Jonah at this point would be pleased with their act of repentance, but instead he was angry. God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” Jonah felt more upset about a dead plant than he did the lives of people. I think we are all guilty of this at times. We show more concern over wanting justice, revenge, and punishment, rather than mercy, forgiveness, and grace.
God showed us mercy when He gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. We did not know our right hand from our left, yet God looked on us with pity and great love. If God could be merciful to us, could we not learn from His example? Not all people will think, worship, act, or seek forgiveness for a wrong they have done to us personally, but we are to forgive and show mercy. Letting mercy have precedence over judgement relieves us from the weight of anger and resentment.
We cannot control the actions of others, but we can always allow God to control ours. The key to a peaceful life is to let God’s mercy rule in our hearts!
Dear Loving Father, Help me to be your merciful servant. In Christ Jesus I pray, Amen.
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