Word for the Day January
18
By:
Evang. Cascille Hammack
"So
in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12
What a very different world we would live in if everyone
obeyed what Jesus commanded in Matthew 7:12, to do to others as you would have them do to you. Jesus said the whole
Law and the Prophets were summed up in this one command. In Matthew 5:7 Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy." Luke 6:36 says, "Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful."
When we show mercy, the Lord will show mercy
to us. Another way to say it is, be merciful, because you are going to need it next week. What is in your mercy
account? How can you expect to be shown mercy if you have shown no mercy? Galatians 6:7 says, "Do not be deceived:
God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." Job 4:8, "As I have observed, those who plow evil and those
who sow trouble reap it." After Jesus taught how to pray in Matthew 6 (The Lord's Prayer), He said in Matthew 6:14,15,
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive
men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Forgiving others is a requirement to receive eternal life
in Christ.
In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus
told the parable of the unmerciful servant to illustrate what will be the result of those who show no mercy to others.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted
to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay
the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before
him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master
took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But
when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to
choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you
back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he
went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they
were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I
canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as
I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you
forgive your brother from your heart.”
The
word "mercy" is used many times in God's Word for man as well as of God, and is required
on man's part toward man and animals. We are required to show mercy to all who belong to God.
Proverbs 12:10 says, "A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts
of the wicked are cruel."
In Daniel Chapter 4, King Nebuchadnezzar was facing God's judgement, Daniel gave him the advice
that if he would repent and turn to a righteous lifestyle, being kind to those whom he had oppressed, God would not carry
out what He had revealed in the dream to Daniel. Daniel 4:27 says, "Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my
advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that
then your prosperity will continue." He did not and he suffered the consequences. Read Dt. 25:4;
Psalm 37:21; Psalm 109:16 for more of what the Lord says about mercy.
Micah 6:8 teaches, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."