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Listen while you read: "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen"1
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Matthew 5:7 – God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (NLT)
When my wife yelled, "Come here!" I knew something was wrong.
I was napping in my recliner on a Sunday afternoon when she called for help. Since I was only twenty feet from her, I asked, "Can't you just tell me what you want?"
But knowing who butters my bread, I went. She stared at a stack of Christmas decorations we had recently purchased at an estate auction and planned to resell. "Do you see these little things on this bag? Are they spider eggs?" I told her, "I suppose so, but if I sprayed them, they would be covered in poison."
"I'll just spray them with air freshener," she said. Soon, I heard another plea for help. When she sprayed, what looked like eggs immediately transformed into baby spiders. I quickly retrieved the hand-held vacuum, sucked them up, and emptied the contents in the yard. We were trying to show mercy to the spiders — and preserve the decorations — but it wasn't easy. All we could imagine was these critters crawling on us at night and biting us.
According to Jesus, we'll be happy when we show mercy to others, and God will bless us in return. He didn't say it would be easy, just that we'd be happy. Showing mercy to the spiders was challenging. Exterminating them would have been much easier. Showing mercy to spiders might seem insignificant — and a bit crazy — but the principle remains. It isn't easy to show mercy to some people or in some circumstances.
We can show mercy in numerous ways. While we must be careful of our motives when we demonstrate mercy to others, our obligation remains — and God gives us the ability to do it.
When we think of the mercy that God has shown by allowing His Son to die for humanity's sins and the many ways that He has shown us mercy when we didn't deserve it, we can't find excuses for not showing mercy to others — regardless of who they are or what they've done.
When you're tempted to withhold mercy for what might appear a good reason, remember God's mercy.
Prayer: Father, we praise You for the mercy that flows our way daily. Enable us to channel it to others. Amen.
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About the author:
Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
Send your feedback to the author
Thank you for sharing this message.
Thanks Martin, blessings to you and your family.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging devotional with us today!
Blessings.
Thank you, Martin, for this story that certainly creates vivid images for us and a vivid reminder to show mercy to others.
Thank you for writing this devotional.
Mercy, mercy. Oh me, oh my.
Blessing to you and yours.
Good morning, Martin,
Yes, thank goodness for God’s mercy and with the help of the Holy Spirit we too can show mercy.
Have a blessed Christmas.
You are a very gracious person, Martin! As one who grew up on a farm and farmed for over 20 years before returning to education, bugs and spiders were a disaster to animal and human health and were treated as such. I want to ask the Creator someday why He created such creatures? All the best for your gift of creative and thought-provoking devotionals.
Ugh! Spiders! Yuk! Can’t say I’d have shown mercy to spiders. I usually dispatch them quickly to whatever comes next for spiders. Mom said hell was filled with them, so I tried very hard as a kid to walk the straight and narrow. Then at age five, I gave my heart to Jesus, but I’m still not a fan of spiders. Thanks for sharing this devotional with us.
Blessings.
Thanks, Martin, for your devotional today. I hope you are well recovered from that incident with the spiders. Not a pleasant situation to deal with! Yes, showing mercies can be quite an ordeal at times but it is one of the great teachings of our loving Lord and important that we take heed of His word and follow His ways. Our present world would be much more peaceful if more people were willing to follow the Lord’s way and reach out to others with kindness. Blessings for these special writings you prepare.