Genesis 26
It continues to amaze me how God chooses to use people to show
Himself to others. Take Isaac here who is cruising around the Valley
of Gerar digging wells. He struck water but that only brought
quarreling and disputes among the people there. But instead of
continuing the disputes, he moves on and digs another well. That
water also results in quarreling and again he moves on and digs
another well. Finally no one disputes it and he settles down. Then
the coolest thing happens…the people that fought with Isaac came
back to him and wanted to be on his side! Why? Because they saw the
LORD was with Isaac! Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever
exposed someone to the Living Water and all they want to do is
quarrel and dispute over it? I know that I have. And there are
times that I have let myself quarrel and gotten nowhere. Yet there
are other times when I have chosen to leave peacefully and to dig
other wells. And although it doesn’t happen all the time, there are
a precious few times when those people who used to quarrel come back
and want to know the truth. Why? Because even in our flawed
attempts to be “Christians”, it will be evident that Christ is with
us. People will see Christ in us and they will want to be on our
side. Let’s continue to let His light shine because you never know
when those people that used to argue with us will see the light and
want to join in the party!
Matthew 9
What sticks out to me in this entire section is the continual
misunderstanding of Jesus by the Pharisees. They continually
question his actions and his motives. Because their entire religion
was centered around works-based salvation, they just can’t grasp what
Jesus is up to! Jesus’ answer to them is to go and learn the meaning
of, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”. Growing up, I too had a works-
based concept of salvation (even though I didn’t really understand
that I needed to be saved…but that’s not the point.) The point is
that the world around us tells us that we need to be “good people.”
That we need to do and say the right things in order to be the right
kind of person and to be accepted. Yet Jesus’ answer is mercy not
sacrifice. So I’ve spent a little bit of time doing what Jesus said
to do and trying to learn the meaning of, “I desire mercy, not
sacrifice.” A wise biblical scholar, Jen Price 
, told me that
she’s heard Mercy defined as, “not getting judgement that you do
deserve.” And this is what Jesus DESIRES. He desires to forgive
us! So He doesn’t want our hearts to be focused on sacrificing and
trying to be perfect all the time because He desires to be merciful
to us in our weakness and imperfections! This has been a continual
growth process in my walk with Christ. More and more I am living in
the FREEDOM of His mercy. And it is in that freedom that we will
have hearts that desire to serve Him.
I would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on the meaning of “I
desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
