Mercy and Truth

Mercy and truth

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. (Pro.3:3-4)

We have to be merciful as our Heavenly Father. These days, the people of God are not merciful whereas the people of this world are more merciful than the children of the kingdom. The people of God do not sacrificially give to the poor. In India, we find people throwing away their currency notes as alms to the beggars who throng to the temples/Gurdwaras (places of worship for people belonging to Sikh religion) whereas Christians throw away only their coins as alms to the beggars who beg for the same standing outside the church premises. In many Christian families in India, the so-called "born-again" sons and daughters are not merciful to their old parents. The so-called "born-again" Christians are not merciful to their spouses. Though we are the children of our Father in heaven Who is full of mercy, we are merciless. Similarly, the pastors are not merciful to their sheep. They do not take care of their sheep but want themselves to be taken care of by their sheep by way of tithes and offerings.

At the same time, we have to be truthful also. We should be truthful in our personal life - with your spouse and children; then with your God; then with your employer or business partner. Then, you should abide in the truth that you learn from the Word of God. Nowadays, we do not find the people of God abide in the truth. Christian preachers preach from pulpits righteousness and holiness but in their personal lives they are unrighteous and unholy. Abiding in the truth means following what you preach. The people of God throw to the wind the truth of the Word when the truth enjoins them to take up their crosses and follow Christ Jesus. Christian preachers distort the truth just to suit their conveniences or to become popular. The people of God covet only blessings but not the truth. I wonder how many Christians countered the lies propagated through The Da Vinci Code by taking the Sword of the truth. The lie of the Devil was propagated to every nook and corner of the world whereas many Christian leaders were busy with their own meetings and did not bother to counter the great lie of the father of lies through their television/magazine ministries. What are we doing for the truth that we learn? The communists won the whole world for communism because they were truthful to their doctrines and were prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of their doctrines. There is not a single nation in this world which is not influenced by the doctrines of communism.

A disciple of Christ needs both mercy and truth. He cannot ignore one at the cost of another. If you abide in the truth but are not merciful, then you are not manifesting the love of Christ as His disciple. Similarly, if you are merciful but do not abide in the truth, then you are manifesting yourself as a philanthropist and not as a disciple of Christ Jesus.

You have to bind both mercy and truth around your neck and write the same upon the table of your heart. People around you should see the manifestation of mercy and truth through your life. The same should be visible as a necklace around your neck and should not be hidden. You should write this great truth upon the table of your heart in stead of storing the same in your head. This means you should practice this truth in your life. If you do so, you will find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. People around you will understand you and will favour you, apart from your finding favour and good understanding in the sight of God. We ought to find favour in the sight of man also. If you are merciful and truthful, your employer will prefer you. If you are merciful and truthful, your estranged spouse will favour you. Let these two words i.e. Mercy and Truth be written upon the table of your heart today. Examine in your life whether you are lacking in mercy and in truth! Have you ever neglected the truth of the Word that you learnt from the Bible just because it appeared it was impossible for you to obey His commandment?

Next.....TRUST, LEAN NOT AND ACKNOWLEDGE