Thurs Devo: Intercessory Compassion

If someone did something against you, your loved one or your property and then got punished for it, would you try to intercede and ask that the punishment be removed?

Last year my sister and I were driving in the first snow storm of the year when another car rear-ended us. He didn’t have proof of insurance or a valid driver’s license and had his friend sit in the driver’s seat by the time the police arrived. At the time, I certainly wanted him to suffer the consequences for breaking the law and causing us trouble.

We usually want mercy for ourselves and justice for everyone else. Not Moses. He regularly pleaded for mercy on behalf of the Israelites. And, when his very own siblings turned on him and were confronted and punished by God, he immediately pleaded for mercy!

Numbers 12:13-16      ¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

¹⁴ The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

¹⁶ After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

Besides Jesus, I think Moses was the most compassionate person in the entire Bible. God responded to Moses’ pleas for compassion and mercy. Here, God healed Miriam of her leprousy and lessened her punishment to a mere 7 day time-out. (God knows everything, so maybe He knew Miriam needed some time to think about what she had done. There’s no record that she repented immediately like Aaron did, as we saw last week.)

How can you and I be more compassionate? I’m not talking about making life easy for people, being a door mat, setting low expectations, or compromising God’s standards. I’m talking about lovingly valuing the life of others in such a way that we humbly point them to the One who can give them eternal compassion and mercy. We can start by praying for our own heart of compassion. Then, like Moses, we can intercede for those around us and ask for God’s mercy towards them and for them to see God's compassion.  

Alice