Advent Devotional Guide: Jesus Is!

Jesus Is!

Advent Devotional Guide
Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Jesus is Mercy  

Once upon a time there were two sister cities in a faraway land. The people in these towns were very progressive in comparison to their neighbors to the north and south. They welcomed all kinds of cultures and traditions and pagan practices from all over the world. As a result of their careless and reckless behavior, however, they forgot their connection to the one, true God they had honored in the past.

To be quite honest, God got fed up with these wayfaring people and decided to wipe them from the earth. “No, God, please don’t,” begged one of His dear friends, for he knew his nephew lived there.

So God had mercy on the people because of the one. Once he and his family were removed from the sinful cities, however, God destroyed the people once and for all.

Where is the mercy in this story? True, God was hard on the people who had denied him and had turned to ungodly practices. But it’s not like he hadn’t given them chance after chance to turn back to him. He had sent prophets on numerous occasions to present His way to them and they had not listened. 

He was merciful to the one family and spared their destruction because his friend had asked him to.

“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 ‭4‬:‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The God of Mercy will not abandon us or forget the promise he made to us in the New Testament when he said he would be with us to the end of the age. Because of Jesus (represented in the above story by the Lord’s dear friend), God has chosen to spare us a life of separation from him and to give us life.  

Lord,  We deserve to be punished for our sins against you, for there are many. Thank you for Jesus who speaks to you on our behalf and begs you to spare us from punishment. Thank you for your bountiful mercy. Help us to be merciful to those we encounter this Christmas season and beyond.