Do Not Take Mercy for Granted

There is no amount of past, present, or future sin that will separate us from Christ's love or forgiveness. We will always be shown mercy for our sins. While there is truth to the fact that God will always forgive us for what we do, there should be a change from our old selves to our new selves. Once forgiven, we cannot continue living like we used to. Unfortunately, this is not the way it is for many Christians. As a result, we find ourselves treating God's mercy with contempt through our actions; we take God's mercy for granted.

Charles Spurgeon emphasizes, "It is a sad thing that any who have seen God's judgements on others, and have escaped themselves, should draw from this special mercy a reason for adding sin to sin (Jer. 3:8)." Spurgeon points out five areas in which we take God's mercy for granted:

First, we do not readily or actively acknowledge the mercy we have have received; we allow it to remain unnoticed. Second, we take God's mercy for granted by falling under the belief that mercy is something that we have earned or even deserve. Third, we spit on God's mercy by refusing to repent of our sins and by refusing to wholly surrender to God. Fourth, we might use mercy as an explicit reason to harden our hearts and delve deeper into sin (Christ will forgive us for whatever we do, right?). Finally, we abuse God's mercy by believing that Jesus will not return tomorrow - maybe one day, but certainly not tomorrow, or a month from now, or a year. As Christians, God has called us into wisdom, not foolishness. God actively chooses to give us mercy; it is not something we should expect or demand. Mercy truly is a gift and should not be taken for granted.

Living Life