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God Has Mercy for Every Mistake

Jan 20

3 min read

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176

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Sunrise over clouds with text: "God has mercy for every mistake - Joel Osteen". Calming and inspirational scene in soft blues and yellows.

As I read through the Bible last year, one of my favorite things I saw about God was how incredibly patient and merciful He is toward us always, and especially when we don't deserve it. God has mercy for every mistake. We see this on display throughout the entire Bible, starting from the very beginning when God first created humans. Not only did God show mercy to the first humans, Adam and Eve, when they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (1), but He also showed mercy to their first son, Cain, as well. Oftentimes, when we read the story about Cain and Abel, we focus on their actions, but in doing so, we miss so many beautiful aspects of God's character demonstrated in this story.


The story begins in Genesis 4 with Eve giving birth to her first son, Cain, and then her second son, Abel. Verses 2-5 tell us, "Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast."


At first glance, it might look like God was being unkind in not looking with favor on Cain's offering, but when we take a closer look, we can see that was not the case. One of the most common themes we see throughout the Bible is that God is not interested in outward actions... He always wants our hearts (2). Cain's offering was made only out of obligation or for show and wasn't given from a sincere, worshipful, grateful heart toward God, like Abel's offering was (3, 4). We see this often in the New Testament regarding the "sacrifices" of the Pharisees versus the true believers.


Even though Cain failed miserably in both his empty offering and his angry response, God's response to Cain was merciful, kind, and gentle. Verse 6-7a says, "Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" He didn't chastise Cain, and He didn't punish Cain. Instead, He talked with him through his anger and disappointment. He pursued Cain and gave him another chance to make it right. And in the second half of verse 7, God, in His kindness, even warned Cain about the sin that was crouching at his door if he chose not to do what was right.


In these two short verses, we see God's patient pursuit of Cain after his failures and shortcomings, we see God's gentleness in working through Cain's disappointment with him, we see God's mercy in giving Cain a second chance to bring a worthy offering from the heart, we see God's kindness in warning Cain about the sin that wanted to trap him, and, ultimately, we see God's love in giving Cain the freedom to choose. And our God does the same for each one of us! He patiently pursues us, gently grows us, mercifully corrects us, kindly warns us, freely loves us, and so much more. He does all of this not because of who we are, but because of who He is. We see this in His character from the beginning of time! It's His nature, and He never changes! He "is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8 NIV). What an amazing Heavenly Father we have!



Sources:

  1. The Bible Recap, Day 1. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRUkCdeNyx4&t=12s

  2. The Bible Recap, Day 220. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwweGve3XIo

  3. https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-Bible/hebrews-11-4.html

  4. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/genesis-4/



Affiliate Link:

  1. Purchase The Bible Recap book here: https://amzn.to/3BqkbmB

Jan 20

3 min read

2

176

0