Devotion for Today: 23 July 2007 Devotion for Today "The Merciful" Matthew 5:7

23 July 2007 Devotion for Today "The Merciful"  Matthew 5:7

The story is told about a little boy whose mother sent him on an errand

to buy a loaf of bread.  He was gone for about an hour, and the mother

began to grow worried.  The boy finally returned home with the loaf of

bread, and the mother asked, "What took you so long, I was worried

about you."  The little boy said, "I'm sorry, Mom, but when I was on

my way home I met another boy whose bicycle was broken, so I stopped."

The mother said, "That sure was nice, but I didn't know you knew so

much about fixing bikes."

The boy replied, "Oh, I don't know anything about fixing bikes, but the

boy was crying, so I sat there and cried with him!"

This touching story reminds us of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:7:

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  What is mercy?

Mercy is defined as a kindness or good will toward the hurting and needy,

joined with a desire to help them.  We may find that we might not be

able to do much for someone who is in need, but that does not matter.

Dr. Charles Swindoll once said: "It does not mean only to sympathize

with a person in the popular sense of the term; it does not mean simply

to feel sorry for someone in trouble. It means the ability to get right

inside the other person’s skin. Clearly this is much more than an

emotional wave of pity; this demands a deliberate effort of the mind and

of the will. It denotes a sympathy which is not given, as it were, from

the outside, but which comes from a deliberate identification with the

other person, until we see things as he sees them, and feel things as

he feels them.

To feel what others feel is not so difficult when we take the time. Is

there someone who needs mercy today.  You may not be able to feel

exactly what they are feeling, and even that is not necessary.  But

what they need is someone to sit by them without saying a word so they

will not have to withstand the crisis alone.  That is mercy.

Is there someone around you who needs mercy today?  It should not take

you long to find them, as that person might even be you.  Have a blessed

day!

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com

jcrussell@liberty.edu

Devotion for Today