All We Will Get Is Mercy

Let us make crystal clear at the beginning of each new day, all we will get from God as believers in Jesus is mercy.  Whatever pleasures or pains may come our way in the day, they will all be mercy. This is why Christ came into the world--"in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy" (Rom 15:9).  We were born again "according to his great mercy" (1 Pet 1:3); we pray daily "that we may receive mercy" (Heb 4:16); and we are now "waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (Jude 21). If any Christian proves trustworthy, it is "by the Lord's mercy [he] is trustworthy" (1 Cor 7:25).  In the end, when all is said and done, we will confess, "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy (Rom 9:16).

So as we face each day, let us humble ourselves and take the position of the blind man: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38). Or the position of the leper: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us" (Luke 17:13). And let us take heart that we will never obey God enough to put Him in debt to us.  He will never owe us. "Who has given to [God] the he might be repaid?" (Rom 11:35). And let us take heart that the smallest seed of true faith in Christ taps all the divine power of mercy--as the slightest touch of an electrical plug to the socket gets all the electricity.

Therefore, the fullest obedience and the smallest faith obtain the same thing from God: mercy. A mere mustard seed of faith taps into the mercy of tree-moving power. And flawless obedience leaves us utterly dependent on mercy. God may withhold some blessings of mercy for our good, if we stray from the path of growing faith.  But even this withholding is another form of mercy.

The point is: Whatever the timing of form of God's mercy, we never rise above of the status of beneficiaries of mercy.  We are always utterly dependent on the undeserved.  God never owes us anything in ourselves.  The smallest faith and the fullest obedience receive one thing: almighty mercy.

-- John Piper