This post is based off of chapter 18 of the book “The Knowledge of the Holy” by A. W. Tozer. 

Here is a harsh reality. Humanity is broken. We are part of a system that has been separated from God because of sin. Our sin, the sins of our fathers, and the sins of their fathers. No one is blameless. Even those of us who came to know Jesus at a very young age is without fault.

Boom. Tozer dropped a heavy one. The first paragraph on Mercy made me defensive. I came to Jesus when I was three. I prayed for Jesus to forgive my sins as a three year old. What sins? Tantrums, yep. Disrespecting my parents, probably. But in the grand scheme of things I think I turned out alright. I often don’t see myself as one who, “took part in that unholy rebellion which rashly sought to dethrone the glorious King of Creation.” But Tozer says I did.

And in truth, I did, and have, and probably will. In fact I did last week. One of our family friends just cheated on his wife and left her. I don’t really like him right now. I sort of despise him. I saw him last week for the first time since everything came out into the open. I was the guest of a friend at one of our local gyms. We were in a workout class and we ran past him in the lobby. I reacted badly, with some comment about how easy it would be to swing an elbow into his face the next time we jogged by. This was in front of a girl who I am trying to witness to with my lifestyle. I totally dethroned Jesus right in front of someone who needs to see how a Christian reacts in these situations. So yah, I am part of the problem.

I need mercy.

Tozer says that “judgement is God’s justice confronting moral inequity, so mercy is the goodness of God confronting human suffering and guilt.” It didn’t take long for me to realize my thoughts about my friends husband were not Christlike and I immediately prayed for him, and asked God to change my heart.

I am not the first human to plead for Mercy. All throughout the Bible and history, God has been asked and granted mercy, and because He is infinite, He will never stop granting it.

When say mercy, what do you think of? I didn’t really think of what mercy meant to me until I was half way through writing this devotional. I used to think about mercy as God not giving us what we deserve for our actions. In my mind this meant that we would be spared some earthly consequence. After reading the chapter I realize that mercy has both earthly and eternal aspects. Mercy means that we get to be in communion with God eventually in heaven, but it also means that we can be in communion with God on earth.

Tozer says, “We must believe that God’s mercy is boundless, free and, through Jesus Christ our Lord, available to us now in our present situation.”

Have you ever wronged someone, and been forgiven by them, but the relationship was just never the same. Mercy says that that doesn’t happen with God. We must believe that mercy restores our relationship immediately at the request for forgiveness. This is our hope, and this is why we can live so freely with the knowledge that Jesus made a way for our mercy to be so freely given. The need for the just punishment of our sins is no longer there since he has taken that justice upon Himself. Mercy is there if we only ask.

So please don’t live in guilt at the wrong that you have done to God or others. Ask for forgiveness and claim that mercy from God. Your relationship with others may never be restored because they are not infinitely merciful as God is, but know that your heavenly relationship is fully restored. You don’t have to live with guilt or anxiety because God has granted His mercy.

Categories: Jennifer Chlumsky The Knowledge Of The Holy

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