This photo of a mountain lion came from a full video. The mountain lion came into this spring for a cool drink of water. In the midst of quenching his thirst, something caught his attention. He immediately crouched down facing the unsuspecting animal. He stayed in that position for quite some time and then began stalking his prey.
Predators, like this mountain lion, will usually go after the weak, injured, or sick animal in a herd. Those are the ones that are easiest to bring down. This got me thinking about the spiritual realm and how the enemy of our souls is referred to as a “lion stalking its prey, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Like the mountain lion, he, too, loves to find the spiritually weak, spiritually injured, or spiritually sick.
This past Sunday, we heard the incredible story the Lord speaks about a man who had received great mercy and then refused to show another man any mercy at all (Matthew 18:23-35). The Lord brings home His point with these words for all of us:
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
If we belong to the Lord, then we have experienced His great mercy. When we confessed to Him, He forgave us for all the wrong things we had done in our lives. We are called to walk in that forgiveness and to have that same mercy on others. But we can find ourselves hurt or angered by the words or actions of someone else. In that hurt or anger, we can refuse to forgive them or to show them any mercy. We may want to hurt them back, but in reality, the only one being hurt is us.
When we refuse to forgive and have mercy on someone, we injure ourselves spiritually. We are the ones who then become spiritually weak, spiritually injured, and spiritually sick. The enemy of our souls (that lion) is stalking such prey constantly.
One of the absolute worse things that could come out of our mouths is: “I could never forgive ______ for what they did (or said)!” With God’s help, we can forgive others. It always helps me to remember the depths of God’s forgiveness toward me when I committed my life to Him. He had great mercy on me for which I am forever grateful.
May our Lord give us strength each day to walk in His forgiveness and mercy, and to show that mercy to others.