MERCY WITHDRAWN OR RENEWED

Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

God is abundant in mercy. It is His mercy that keeps us alive, Lamentations 3:22. We are saved by His mercy. Romans 5:8 says while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. For every sin we commit there is a death penalty (Romans 6:23), but instead of giving us what we deserve which is death by crucifixion God gave Jesus to die for our sins. God’s mercy over a life can either be renewed or withdrawn. Mercy can be withdrawn if abused or not appreciated. In the case of Uzziah the king of Judah, mercy was withdrawn as a result of abuse, 2 Chronicles 26:1-21. God’s mercy took this sixteen year old boy and made him king. He also prospered him but when he was strong pride set in. Uzziah began to bully the prophets of God and mercy was withdrawn immediately and he became a leper. In the case of Saul, mercy was abused. God’s mercy took this farm boy and made him king. He was giving a simple instruction to wait for Samuel but he decided a king should not be kept waiting so he went ahead to do the sacrifice in the absence of Samuel. Through God’s mercy he received pardon .He graduated to a level whereby he began to pick and choose which of God’s instruction to follow. He was instructed to destroy everything in Amalek; he decided to kill some and spare some and mercy was withdrawn. When David erred by taking a man’s wife and devised a scheme that led to the death of the husband, instead of destroying David God renewed His mercy over him. Why?

Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. The reason why mercy was renewed in the case of David was because David was a merciful man. David had several opportunities to kill Saul but he did not kill him. Out of mercy David gathered vagabonds and those the world had rejected and made them mighty men of valor. When you study the life of Uzziah, there was not even a single act of mercy recorded against his name. Saul on the other hand was wicked and merciless. The first war he fought, three hundred and thirty thousand children of Israel went to war with him, 1 Samuel 11:8. These men left their occupations to join Saul’s army. After winning the war, Saul choose two thousand out of these three hundred and thirty thousand and sent the rest away with nothing, 1 Samuel 13:2 . He had no need for them again so he just dumped them. Any man who will bask in God’s mercy must be ready to show mercy at all times. Anyone who does not forgive or show mercy will suddenly find mercy been withdrawn from him when he errs. If you are the type who does not give second chance or forgive or you are too harsh, please be careful so that God’s mercy will not be withdrawn when you need it most. I think I have shared the story of my traffic warden friend who was stopped by a traffic police for exceeding the speed limit for a particular stretch of road. He explained to this police officer that he exceeded the speed limit because he was late for work. The officer ignored him and began to write a speeding fine .As the officer was about to hand the speeding fine to him, he asked my friend, as a traffic warden do you give second chance( my friend was in his uniform)? And my friend replied that everyone deserves a second chance. The police officer tore the speeding fine and said there you go your second chance.

KEY WORD: The amount of God’s mercy you are entitled to is dependent of the amount of mercy you are willing to show.