Compassion - Wednesday October 02, 2013
But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? ...But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent. Matthew 12:3-7
Our four children lounged on the comfy couches in our family room, sipping cinnamon tea while we had devotions before school time. Abigail held and stroked Daisy Pearl, her pet white mouse, as we read that morning's psalm. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Daisy Pearl jumped out of Abigail's hands and scurried behind the couch. If we didn't rescue this little pet immediately, she would disappear into the large rambling house and probably die of starvation. Abigail would be heartbroken, and the mouse would be dead-two tragedies!
But if we stopped devotions to rescue the mouse, our time in God's word would be ruined for the morning, as it was almost time for school. Was this just a ploy from Satan to distract us from God's word? Time with God should be our first priority, right?
Then the above verses came to mind, and they solved our dilemma. Studying God's word was for the purpose of learning God's values, and He values compassion, not "laws." If we made our commitment to get a "Quiet Time" into a law-at the expense of compassion-we were missing the whole point! We rescued the mouse.
Never forget that the goal of God's instruction is love, not law. Jesus desires compassion.
Submitted by:
Rita Bergen
Lee's Summit Community Church
Lee's Summit, Missouri
One-Year Reading Plan:
Isaiah 66:1-24
Philippians 3:4-21
Psalms 74:1-23
Proverbs 24:15-16
[Read
Online]
© 2024 Great Commission Association of Churches, Inc All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Online Bible Services provided by
The Bible Gateway (TM) a service of
Gospel
Communications Network.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.