NO MERCY

Today's reading: Deuteronomy 7-9

"You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy and do not worship their gods. If you do, they will trap you." Deuteronomy 7:16 NLT

One can watch the timeline of the world and see different eras when the enemy has snuck in and taken root.

Times when good and not-so-good were awfully close.

Moments in history when compromise allowed a door to be left cracked open.

Decisions made that showed mercy to wrong--and it has now trapped us.

But, sadly, one doesn't have to look as far as our nation 's history. One can look in the mirror.

To see someone who has fudged.

To see the image of one who has crossed the lines.

To see the reflection of a God follower who now allows more of the world in their home than Jesus.

To see a Christian who has shown mercy to foreign gods.

With all that God has done for us, and we disregard His warning in a verse like this?

And wonder why we're lacking, anemic really, in our faith?

Let us pray to break free of the traps our adultery has caused us to be caught in.

Let us beg God for iron in our backbones, conviction in our hearts and vision to see where it is we are passing out mercy to the undeserved.