February 12

Our Need of Mercy

He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13).

Scripture: Luke 18:9-14

Song: “Saved by the Blood”

On December 20, 1943, Charles Brown, fighter-pilot, scanned the view outside the cockpit of his crippled American B-17 bomber and froze in fear. He was face-to-face with a German pilot, Franz Stigler, whose jet-fighter hovered just feet away from their wingtip. The Luftwaffe plane had closed in on them with orders to shoot them from the sky. But when Brown and his copilot looked at the German pilot again, something strange happened—he didn’t pull the trigger. He nodded at them instead, letting them go in a rare demonstration of mercy during WW II. The two pilots met 40 years later and developed a lasting friendship.

When we come to God in prayer, He demonstrates extreme mercy toward us because of the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus. The holy and perfect nature of God cannot look upon sin. If we saw Him face-to-face, we would die (Exodus 33:20). If we were to “get what we deserve,” we would all be cast into Hell. But God, in His amazing love and indescribable mercy, has made a way for us to have a lasting relationship with Him, though the blood of Jesus Christ. Instead of destroying us, who were His enemies, He made a way for us to have eternal life (Romans 5:10). Instead of casting us to our deaths, He has called us friends (John 15:15).

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing extreme mercy and saving us through the death and resurrection of Your only Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.