Treasures of Mercy

Things were quiet until she moved into the neighborhood. Then came the loud, joyless laughter, the angry shouting, and the profanity, lots and lots of profanity. I judged her long before I laid eyes on her. This is not someone I want to know.

But there was a time when I was the person I would not want to know. That was before God saved me. And even now, truth be told, there are times when I still feel that other person’s heart beating right alongside the brand new one Christ has given me.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (Eph. 2:1-5)

I was once a son of disobedience, a child of wrath. It revealed itself in disobedience and wrath of my own. Was my laughter so mirthless? Was I so profane? Possibly not, but the difference was only one of degrees. And while I was busy living out my deadness, bitter against God and profane, filling the garage with beer cans and the neighborhood with cigarette smoke, God was busy loving me with His “great love.” His hand was digging into His vast treasure of mercy as He planned how He would hand me the wealth of life in Christ.

When Jesus says, “Love your enemies” (Mt 5:44) and when Paul says “Let love be genuine” (Rom 12:9), this is what they mean. Just as God actively loves His enemies, just as He digs deep into His heart of mercy, closes His eyes to their multitude of sins (1 Pt 4:8), and sacrifices to save them, so should we. Everything He tells us to do, He has already done for us.

After several months, when I was taking out the trash, I laid eyes on her for the first time. I remembered God’s love, and I walked over. I said hi, and introduced myself. She did likewise. She was neither rude, nor profane. She was a person capable of warm smiles, friendliness, and kindness, just as I always was, and still am. And I began to dig deep into the treasures of God’s mercy that God has saved up for her there.