Mercy Stop ?
When does mercy stop and enabling start ? That’s right…you heard it right ! This statement / question kept reverberating in my mind this morning, so i had to post it. We always hear about the “mercy of God” … how he doesn’t give us what we deserve, due to our sin… which is spiritual death and separation from his blessings and kingdom. Ok…i get it. But where’s that line stop !?? I know you can relate to “yo home situations” maybe a little better than yo situation twixt you and God, so lemme put it in country-boy terms … You, dad / mom, have a kid…he/she grows up into a teenager…they ask if they can go to a friend’s and hang out, but it’s already 9:00 on a school night. You say “no, it’s too late”, they fuss and try to get you to change your mind, but you ain’t havin it, so they storm off and shut themselves in their bedroom, makin some comment under their breath that you don’t really wanna know. Yall hit the hay ( that’s, ‘go to bed’, for you younguns )…and as you lay there, you can’t help but think of that Scripture, “ Don’t let the sun go down on your anger and so, give the devil a foothold” ( Ephesians 4:26-27 )…so you get up and go to their room and knock softly, sayin their name. No answer…figures…but you persist, trying the knob…locked…so after repeated attempts, to no avail, you go get the ice pick and spring the lock. Flipping the light on, you see they aint there…the window is open and so the trackin begins. You started out wantin to make amends, now you’re wantin to ring a neck. Off to “that friend’s” house. When you pull up, you see your child and their friend out in the yard , hangin out with a couple o’ “no goods”, bad role models. After the necessary disclosures and apologies are exchanged between you and that other kid’s parents, you head back to your own home. Tensions are maxed out and your mind is racing through all the punishments you can come up with. You love your child, therefore, punishment must be administered, according to God’s Word ( Proverbs 13:24 ); right ?! You’re relieved they’re back home and safe, and you’re trying to remain their “friend”, so you decide to deal with it in the morning rather than take care of it right then. In fact, you’re even wondering if it’s worth starting it back up…because you’ll just ruin both y’all’s day, so you choose to let it go … nobody was really hurt, so no big deal; right ? Your coworkers just laugh it off and say things like, “ We were all teenagers at one time” … “ They’re just sowin their wild oats; they’ll grow out of it”… and you’ve just fallen into a lie that’s sent many a son/ daughter to hell. You went from being a parent…a mama / daddy that was given a child and all the responsibilities that fall on you, to being an enabler. You withdrew the punishment and chose to enable them to sin and disrespect you and your authority. They saw that they could get away with being disobedient and not suffer consequences that hurt a little while…therefore, they didn’t learn a lesson, weren’t remorseful, so their sinfulness and disregard for authority increased as time went on. Administering mercy doesn’t mean there’s no consequences to our actions. God is definitely a merciful Father… but He’s also a “just” Father. He does what any good parent does that loves their kid and wants em to grow into responsible, respectful and God-honoring adults … He disciplines His child. He knows if he lets it go, they’ll / we’ll only get worse. He still loves us…he still offers mercy and forgiveness…but he also has to train us in righteousness ( Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4 ). Jesus paid to GET us “there”, but it’s up to us to build on that foundation ( Matthew 7:24-27 ). To be a strong supporter…a parent or individual that desires to please God, we’ve got to “work out” our faith with fear and trembling ( Philippians 2:12 ). If we bow down to any other god, including popular opinion, we’re only setting ourselves and those under our influence, up for failure and heartache. You can’t be a follower of Christ and a weak believer at the same time … it ain’t gon’ work ! Don’t be an enabler ! Speak TRUTH while you can ! God’s given you the mic … say somethin that’ll save em from calamity and the fires of hell !! They don’t need a friend, they need the truth ! God’s Word is right there … whatchoo gonna do with it ?