Thursday, December 10, 2009

His Great Mercy

My Walk MondayNot by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. -- Titus 3:5

I love that verse. It's one of my son, Andrew's, favorites. The words roll off the lips smoothly and refresh me a bit. Once again I'm reminded that my salvation doesn't depend on me. Thank you, Lord!!!

I learned something interesting about God's mercy last night. Our weekly study group is working its way through Luke. The last time we studied Luke with a small group, it took almost 2 years to get through the first 11 chapters. Our group consisted of 5 couples and about 22 kids. Obviously some weeks we didn't study the Word much! Enter God's mercy, LoL!

So, last night we arrived at Luke 1:78 and ran into a word we didn't know. Doug's Bible is an NASV side-by-side (English and Spanish). Lupita's was "Dios Habla Hoy". I had my "Nueva Biblia de los Hispanos". It seemed like every Bible in the room used a different word to describe God's mercy.

Here's the verse in the King James version:
Luke 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us.

Tender mercy. I like that. It brings to mind a man holding a wounded bird or something like that.

Lupita's version used the phrase "great mercy". That's good, too. It gives a different mental picture. Great mercy is what I need every day when I fall on my face, blow up at my husband, snap at the kids. I'm so glad that God's mercy is great towards me!

But my Spanish version uses the word entrañable to describe God's mercy. I didn't recognize that word, and the way Esteban described it made me curious about its use in this verse. This word has a deeper meaning which will forever change how I view God's mercy.

The adjective entrañable (en trahn YAH bleh) is translated as intimate, close, beloved, or dear.

The verb entrañar means to bury deep, to carry within or to become deeply attached.

The noun entraña means entrails. Guts. The deepest, most profound place.

Profound mercy.
Deepest mercy.
Mercy from the most intimate part of God.

God's profound mercy through which Jesus (the dayspring from on high) came to us. For what purpose?

Luke 1:77
...to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of sin.

The mercy which pours out from the innermost being of God is poured over us so that we can be forgiven for our sins.

God's profound mercy sent Jesus to die so that my willful disobedience could be forgiven.

Deep. Profound. The guts of it. Wow.

Today I want to be reminded of God's deep mercy for me. Maybe it will help me to be more merciful to those around me?

Praying you're blessed today!

4 comments:

Michelle said...

Thank you, Rebecca. This is a good reminder for me today as I am taking my son to the doctor's. I tend to be "mercenary" not merciful towards them because I've had so many bad experiences!


Love in Christ,

Michelle

Rebecca said...

Hmm. I wonder if there's any "mercy" in mercenary? lol

Sometimes it's good to be a little vigilant...especially when it comes to our children's health!!!

I'll be praying!

Anonymous said...

:( too late to link up :( I'm sorry hunny, I haven't been blogging MWM or pretty much at all since October!

I have A LOT to blog on, but I guess I'm just in a funk and don't want to do it.

Thanks for the compliment, it's REALLY nice to hear from you, it reminds me why I used to blog.

I wanna get going again......

Teacher Julie said...

Thank you for sharing your musings on God's Word, new every morning, and how He always works to draw us into a deeper walk with Him. I'm praying that this next group coming in just a few days will be a great blessing to you and your family and that they will be unified as a team, bringing glory to the Savior.