Advent Devotional Guide: Jesus Is!

Jesus Is!

Advent Devotional Guide
Friday, December 22, 2023

El Rachum — merciful God 

”But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God (El Rachum); he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.“ Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬-‭31‬

Once upon a time there was a very wise and beloved king in a far away land. He loved his subjects very much — from the tiniest tot to the oldest of the old. He spent countless hours walking with them, listening to their problems and sharing life with them. 

Over time the people of the land got very involved with other things and paid less and less attention to their king. Sure, they would call out to him if they needed something but that was about it. 

One day the king had a brilliant idea. He sent his only son, the heir to the throne, to live with the people and to encourage them back to a right relationship with him. The problem was that they had gone so far off the rails that they didn’t even recognize the prince much less listen to him. Not only did the people disrespect the prince, but they actually got violent with him. One thing led to another and they killed the young man. 

The king was devastated. His precious son had become so ugly in his death that he had turned away from him for a time. He was crushed that his beloved people had acted this way. 

Let’s take a step away from my story for a moment. What if you were the king? What if someone tortured and murdered your child? What would you do? Lock them up in prison and throw away the key? Get lost in hatred? Make everything hard for them for the rest of their lives? 

Mercy: (noun) compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. 

The king had every right to punish his subjects harshly for murdering his dear son, the prince. No one would have criticized him for that. 

Instead, he forgave the people even before they had a chance to apologize to him for their actions. He invited them into his courtyard. He took them in and adopted them into his family as his own children. 

That is mercy. That is God. 

Lord,  Thank you for coming to bring us back to you. Thank you for showing us mercy when what we deserve is the harshest of punishments.