Mercy, Me?

“When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth [was passing by], he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ The people told him to be quiet. But he shouted even louder… Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him!’ They called the blind man and told him, ‘Cheer up! Get up! He's calling you.’ The blind man threw off his coat, jumped up, and went to Jesus.” Mark 10:47-50 (GWT)

Mercy, in the above passage, comes from a Greek word that means “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.” Another definition referred to helping the wretched.

In our feel good about yourself culture, it seems we’ve lost the reality of our need for mercy. I hear a lot more about God’s grace than I do about his mercy. Oh, mercy is thrown in there but his grace is much more palatable.

Grace refers to that which gives pleasure. Mercy indicates our state of being.

We pat ourselves on the back for offering aid to those we see as miserable and afflicted. We want to offer them a more pleasurable existence. We live in a country of peace and can’t understand those who stir up war.

The truth is that we are as wretched as those who kill for political power or personal vengeance.

Maybe if we realized our position before God, we too would cry out “have mercy on me!” Then when he calls, we would throw off everything that slows us down, jump up and go to Jesus.

I want to have that much gratefulness for God’s mercy. Do you?