DOUBLE STANDARDS?

April 17

Psalms 119:124 Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.

Thank God that He does not rule us solely by justice; we would all be condemned from birth. Anyone who wants to apply the rigid rule of justice to all, needs to fist start by applying it to himself. The Bible says that we all have sinned, so technically we are all condemned from the start (Romans 3:23; 6:23).

There is much more peace in our heart in appealing for God’s mercy than for His justice, and if mercy is to be applied to one, it is to be applied to all. Mercy is a bridge that we cannot deny to others without also denying it to ourselves. What greater example is there than that of the story of Jonah.

Jonah was a Hebrew statesman. God asked Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire who at that time cruelly oppressed the Hebrew nation. God asked him to go on an errand of mercy to these people--these people, who were idol worshippers, unbelievers in the LORD—and give them the message of God so they could avoid His punishing judgments. Put this one in context of world politics today and get an idea of the situation. No wonder Jonah didn’t want to go! Jonah knew that God was merciful, and that if the Ninevites repented, God would forego His judgments, even on that cruel Assyrian empire, and this is exactly what happened, which made Jonah very upset. Jonah yielded to the ‘victim mentality’ spirit of revenge. He wanted Nineveh to get the true justice that she rightly deserved. He forgot that God allowed the Assyrians to persecute the ten tribes of Israel because of their disobedience to His Laws, whereas the Lord said of the Ninevites, that they didn’t even know their right from their left. (Jonah 3:10; 4:1,2;4:11). Jesus even justified the Ninevites of Jonah’s day before the Jewish religious leaders of His own day (Matthew 12:41).

The question to ask ourselves is: Do we pray for God to deal with others according to His justice, while we ask Him for mercy for ourselves?

* Mercy: Undeserved forgiveness

John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.