I fully believe that the concept of mercy is foreign and skewed today. We have a limited understanding of how deep God's love is, and how depraved the sin nature of man can be. Some hold to a notion that the things we have done in the past could not possible be forgiven. Doubtless because we don't often witness this type of all-inclusive forgiveness by watching the world around us. It's a very rare thing indeed.
One of my favorite stories is about Jesus being anointed by a "sinful woman" at the home of a Pharisee. Here is what Luke 7:36-38 says: "When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them."
The owner of the home clearly didn't understand the woman's intentions. Sometimes love acts differently than we expect, especially when our worldview or perspective doesn't line up with the person extending the grace. Luke 7:47 further says this: "Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."
We don't appreciate the full scope of Christ's atonement sometimes. It's hard for us to get our heads around it. It isn't until we come to terms with our own sin nature that we can truly love God for His ability to forgive us and grant us mercy. You see, we have been forgiven a lot, so we can love a lot.
God's mercy is vast like the sea. It allows us to love deep and wide, like the ocean. Anyone who has been to the coast and taken in the beauty of the sea can attest to the fact that it has an eternal quality. You cannot see the other side of it, just a vast, blue horizon line stretching off into the distance. It seems to have no definitive end; just like God's grace and mercy.
My family and I try to visit Florida once a year for vacation. We enjoy simply basking in the sun while wading through the relaxing waves on the beach. Once in a while, you get a reminder of how wild and beautiful God's creation really is. Maybe a jellyfish swims by, or a school of fish. Then I remember just how all-encompassing and teeming with life our world is. I suspect God's mercy is like that as well; teeming with life and joyful anticipation of forgiveness from Him. To take that next step and accept Christ into our lives ... to wade through the waves of life with Him.
The book of Isaiah is one of my Old Testament favorites. Chapter 30:18 says, "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"
This verse comes to us from a set of Scriptures that talk about how God is disappointed with his followers at the time. He first admonishes them, like any good parent would do. But then He reaches out to them and offers a loving hand. God's patience is long suffering and eternal. Like the wide, blue horizon of the ocean stretching on into the vast skyline, so is God's heart for us. There are hardly words to describe this reality, once we grasp it.
I suppose the lesson here is two-fold: don't take God's mercy for granted, and at the same time, don't forget to revel in it also. We can be comforted by His goodness, and humbled by His grace at the same time. It is an ocean of love that we may never fully understand.
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