Choose Mercy...

As I was thinking about what to write about today I was reminded about a passage I had read in my devotional time. In this passage we are told of these Refuge cities that were built by the people of God. These cities were the one place a person who had committed a crime could run for shelter as long as the crime had been found to be a accident. We first see mention of these cities of refuge in Joshua 20, where it says -

"Then the Lord said to Joshua: “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought.They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

I know it sounds strange, right? I mean giving these people who took the life of another a second chance. However, what is so different between this and what Christ did for us. Think about it, Christ died on the cross to give us a second chance at life. It doesn't matter what we have done in our lives, the good or the bad. Trust me, we are all only human we make mistakes.

Yet, even in the midst of our downfalls God is right there offering us a second chance, a chance to do the right thing, a chance to choose life over death. I love that these cities were made, the fact that God wanted to bless his people with a second chance, a chance to live out their days not condemned by their chooses, but free to a life walked out in grace and forgiveness. 

Reading through Joshua 20 lead me to this thought, if we have been shown this unending grace that only the Father can give, then why is it that we often don't extend the same grace to others? If this grace is a gift, why are we so stingy? I know it is hard to offer grace to someone who has wronged you, hurt you to the point you thought there was nothing that could ever make it right.

However, what if I told you that through the grace and mercy given to us from the creator of the universe the maker of heaven and earth we could extend that same grace towards others. When we set our hearts and minds on Jesus and nothing else there is a shift that happens, no longer are we trapped in this constant cycle of sin now we are free to take the grace and mercy given to us and extend it to those around us. All we have to do is choose Grace, choose Mercy.

Much Love friends,

Alianna