If you’ve ever had to say goodbye to someone, you treasure the last words spoken. You remember what was said. You hold on to those final words. For Lent in 2021, we are focusing on the last words of Jesus from the cross. What did he say? What does it mean for us? How do those words change us? This week, we focus on the word “compassion.” In an act of compassion, Jesus cared for his widowed mother by commending her to his disciple John. Even as he was dying on the cross, he looked down in love and said, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Invitation Prayer
O God, the Psalm says, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:13) So I am quick to run to you. I know you look on me with compassion. So I come to you first. I rush into your arms. I speak into your ear. As my Father in heaven, hear my voice today. In Jesus name, Amen.
Confession
Forgive my sins, O Lord – forgive me the sins of my present and the sins of my past, the sins of my soul and the sins of my body; the sins which I have done to please myself, and the sins which I have done to please others. Forgive me my wasted and idle sins, forgive me my serious and deliberate sins, forgive me those sins which I know and those sins which I know not, the sins which I have labored so to hide from others that I have hid them from my own memory. Forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all.
Word
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Rom. 9:15)
Meditation
We want to determine who deserves our compassion. Puppy dogs and cute children deserve it. The poor widow on the news deserves it. But what about the person you don’t like? What about the unseen masses? How about the person no one else will stand up for? What about an enemy?
Thankfully, God’s compassion is not bound to our stipulations. His mercy and compassion are boundless. He defies labels and limits. If God’s compassion was like ours, his mercy would be limited to a few favorites. But God doesn’t play favorites and his compassion doesn’t fail. He even has a heart for sinners like you and me.
Today, look at people around you with a different lens. With “cross eyes.” Who has God called you to show compassion to, and how will you do it?
Lord of mercy, have mercy on me. Align my heart with yours that I may have compassion as you do. Amen.
Sending Prayer
Lord of compassion, you have called us into a new family by the blood of your cross. Give us your spirit of compassion that we might love one another as you have loved us. You love me and you send me. I now go in your name. Amen.
*Today’s devotion is taken from It Is Finished by Jeff Cloeter, published by CTA – Christ to All at ctainc.com