Our Merciful God
The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh the king of Egypt.
(Dt 7:7-8)
I’ve seen this scripture more times than I can count, and I knew it was a representation of God’s mercy, but today, it seems as if I read it for the first time. God, our God, has ALWAYS wanted to bless people. From the creation of the world, the gift of Eden, the gift of marriage and even the tree of life, God’s will has been that mankind was blessed. Before Christ, God created a way for people to atone for sin through sacrifice, and to restore a relationship with him through obedience. Then, he made promises to one or two men that spanned generations. He made covenants and promises to the Jews, but he included “the foreigner among you” in the promises as well.
Of religions that believe in a God, only the Abrahmic God (ours) appears to love humanity in this way. He is not capricious and does not demand worship for the purpose of asserting his authority and dominion, but calls us to repentance when we sin against him and others and desires worship as obedience and service. Our God desires to lead us on paths of righteousness. Our God desires justice, mercy, and love for him and for one another. While a lot of religions call their adherents to ethical living, these make it seems that the people are capable of perfect lives, and there is no provision for ultimate forgiveness. As a result, many people end up being “good enough” but that leads to pride in their own accomplishments. God says that we are all sinners, because the comparison isn’t to ourselves, it’s to him and he is perfect. This leaves no room for pride, and the good works of Christians are not done to earn God’s love and favor (that is freely given) but to honor the place we have in the divine family as joint-heirs with Christ.
When the bible says that God’s yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matt 11:30), it doesn’t mean that we won’t ever experience life’s troubles. It means the burden of salvation is light and the carrying out of the Christian life is easy. That is because of the quote above in Deuteronomy. God didn’t choose Israel – or us – because of our own accomplishments, qualifications or attributes. In God, the requirements to reconciliation are easy: just believe. It’s already done. It can’t be earned. There is no “burden” on us whatsoever. God, in Christ, has done EVERYTHING already.
Believe God. Receive Christ. Rest in mercy.