An Appeal for Mercy

Titus 3:5

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

Every year the professional basketball teams in the NBA gather for their annual draft where they invite young players to sign a contract with their team to play. These young people are usually college level stars who have excelled already at the amateur level and are now eligible for being drafted to the pros. Each team chooses, one after the other, so that at the end of the night, 60 players out of the thousands who wish they were good enough, have been selected.

The player picked number 1 revels in his status as the most sought after and worthy of this high honor, for a player is not chosen first unless they have previously demonstrated that they are the best of the best. Many sports writers debate every year who should be the top pick but if you are not drafted as one of the top 60, it is a judgment that you were not worthy to be given a chance. But who wouldn't want such a dream opportunity to be a sports star and make tons of money in salary and endorsements.

The Bible presents a very different picture of how we are invited to receive the very best that God has to offer, membership in His family. God has sent out an invitation to every person to become His child and receive the gift of life with Him forever. But most people believe that He judges our merit based on whether we have done more good things than bad and when we die, we will find out if we have earned his selection. They go through life hoping they will make it.

But this view is exactly the opposite of what He has declared. He offers us eternal life, not because we deserve it, but because He is merciful and wants to show love to us. Even the sacrifices of the Old Testament were intended to teach the people that they could not, by their deeds, earn forgiveness for their sin but they should only appeal to God for His mercy which He was quick to offer.

When you realize that His mercy has saved you, you respond with humble thanks and you live each day as one who has been set free from the penalty you deserve by what Jesus did for you. Instead of trying to be good to work for God's approval, you offer your life in gratitude from His approval as one who was worth Jesus dying for.

Start today thanking Him for His mercy and look at others who, just like you, have been offered that mercy too. When you see people as being worth Jesus dying for, you view them with different eyes.