Today’s Devotion
Topic: Oh Lord Have Mercy On Me!
Text: Luke 18: 10- 14
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Amen
The ears of our great King are not too far that He can’t hear; neither are His hands too short that they can’t deliver, but our iniquities have separated us from Him and often we don’t know what to do than to be broken, with a contrite heart, and plead for mercy.
You see, although we may feel disgusted with ourselves due to our struggles with one sin or the other, “God is ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and never forsakes us.” (Neh. 9:17). We go to Him just as we are and His mercies reach for us and bring us into His fold one more time.
Like in the passage above, the tax collector saw his need for pardon. He realized his state and knew he needed mercy from God. He wouldn’t even look up to heaven when he prayed. There was only one agendum on his mind; pleading for mercy from God. There was nothing and nowhere to hide. His humility made him come to the throne of grace, where he could receive mercy. And for this humility, he went home justified before God.
The Pharisee, however, could not even find one reason to ask for mercy. His life was perfect in his own eyes. To him, it was others who needed mercy from God, he didn’t; he had been righteous by observing each ritual stipulated in the law. What he failed to realize is that even our righteousness is like a filthy rag. We are not saved by our own works, but by grace. That means it is for God to justify us out of His abundant mercies and not we by our own “self righteousness”.
Child of God, it will always take humility to go before God whenever we fault. In our humility, we realize we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3: 23). And that; we all like sheep have strayed away, each of us has turned to our own way…” (Isaiah 53:6). We all need the mercy of God to pardon us.
In this way, we never tend to parade ourselves in “self righteousness” and think other people really need pardon from God, and not us. The only way out of sin is to confess everything to God and plead for His mercy.
The good news is, God knows us better than ourselves. He knows that deep within our hearts, we are bent on pleasing Him and striving to live right for Him. We’re so special to Him that anytime we stumble and fall, “He pardons our guilt, overlooking our sins. He will not stay angry with us forever, because He delights in showing unfailing love. Once again He will have compassion on us. He will trample our sins under His feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! He will always show us His faithfulness and unfailing love…” (Micah 7:18-20). Hallelujah!
Begin to pray now and plead the mercies of God over every struggle with sin. For His mercies still endure, ever faithful and ever sure. His love for you is relentless and even now, He will show mercy when you cry out to Him. Call on Him now and be set free from sin in Jesus name.
