Justice & Mercy: Hand in Hand

This morning I was reading Luke 17-18. There are a lot of short stories of things that Jesus did during His ministry time here on earth. Many stories of miracles that Jesus performed and many times when He confronted the inner issues in the hearts of the people around Him. I found it very interesting that there was no distinction in when He gave mercy and when He dispensed justice. It wasn't mercy to everyone here and go to another place and only justice to the people there. They were intermingled. Mercy to the 10 lepers; judgment to the rich young ruler.  Mercy to the widow; judgment to the pharisee. Mercy to the children; judgment to the disciples. Jesus knows what each person needs at the moment He is in. He knew those who needed healing whether physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. He was also NEVER afraid to call out those who wouldn't repent, or who wouldn't sacrifice their whole life (like the rich young ruler), or to call out the disciples whether or not they would have complete understanding of what He meant. I guess Jesus was the perfect blend of justice and mercy. Justice and mercy walking together hand in hand, united and separate in one Man.

After that I saw how that is what I spend my days doing in raising my children; trying to balance discipling and training my children with mercifully loving them, caring for them (hurt bodies and hurt feelings), and serving my children and husband whether I feel like it or not. From my journal I wrote: "Shew, I could learn from Jesus when each one is needed the most!" I am sure there are times when my children need mercy when I don't give it and times when they need the justice of training or discipline and I'm too lazy to do my job. I need His wisdom and love to focus on what builds my children's relationship with me and more importantly with the Lord.

When I shared this with Daniel this morning, I said how neat it is to see how what Jesus does applies to my life. That even though He was never married and never had children, what he did in dealing with people can apply to what I do in raising our children. Daniel had a great response which was something like: "Sometimes people say "Jesus can never understand what I'm going through BECAUSE He wasn't married and never had kids. So it can't apply to what I'm doing." When actually they are looking at it incorrectly. It shouldn't be Jesus' life can't apply to mine. Instead we should be looking at how the situations in our lives can apply to the different things His life, the things Jesus said and did."  

How greatful I am that Jesus knows the perfect blend of justice and mercy and how to apply it. I hope to learn a little more of that now that I am more aware. Thank You, God!