August 16, 2014

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

1 Peter 1:17-19

A very vain woman went to get some photos taken one day. She spent hours with the photographer, getting just the right angles with the perfect lighting. By the end of the day, the photographer was exhausted and the woman was irritated because she didn’t think the pictures were going to turn out well.

When she received the proofs, her fears were confirmed. She hated every single one of them. So she called the photographer and let him have it. “These pictures,” she shouted, “none of them do me justice.” At his wit’s end, the photographer said, “Lady, you don’t need justice; you need mercy!”

We can’t physically see the filthiness and ugliness of sin on our souls. And while many people might think they’d look just fine if they sent their spiritual photo to God, the truth is that no amount of makeup or Photoshop could ever do us “justice” in His eyes. We need mercy!

But the good news is that God’s mercy is available to us. Through Christ, we can have God’s goodness and His pardon from all our sins. Because of that, God sees us as having the righteousness and beauty of Christ, which covers all sin. Thank God for that remarkable gift of mercy today!

THANK GOD THAT THROUGH CHRIST’S MERCY, HE COVERS EVERY SPOT AND BLEMISH OF SIN AND SEES YOU AS HAVING THE BEAUTY OF JESUS!