Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.

• Proverbs 10:12

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

• Romans 12:19

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

• Ephesians 4:31

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• Matthew 9:13

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

• 1 Timothy 1:16

The Boilerplate

My wife started to write her thoughts down at one point in her life.  Some hints point to 2018 and 2019, after she had her open-heart surgery.  In spite of her trials and the atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) that required her to take blood thinners, this was before her major health decline.

Sometimes, she wrote a thought.  Other times, she wrote a Bible verse, and maybe her idea on that day.  Other times, it is a prayer, but I am going to take one entry at a time and try to write about it

Her comment

“Hatred is the rabid dog that turns on its owner.  Revenge is the raging fire that consumes the arsonist. Bitterness is the trap that snares the hunter.  And mercy….mercy is the choice that can set them all free.”

• Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven

“Food for Thought”

• My wife’s next comment in this notebook

The Discussion

My wife had copied the Max Lucado quote and then wrote her comment.  She did not attribute the quote to Max Lucado.  If you copy something for personal reasons, do you have to attribute the quote?  I thought the quote sounded like something familiar, so I looked it up.  I think she had a copy of that book in her reference library.

The quote is beautiful.  What do we focus on?  Do we focus on the hatred, revenge and bitterness?  Or do we go after the owner of the hatred, the arsonist of the consuming fire of revenge, or the hunter who sets a trap in bitterness?

We tell people to hate the sin, not the sinner, but if we continually make excuses for the person and shake our heads and say, “tsk, tsk,” we have neither corrected the behavior or helped the sinner to see the error of his or her ways.

Yet, how many times has God shown us mercy?

It is what is in the heart.  Do we yearn for God to clean us up, make us presentable when we go to be with Him?  Or do we not care what our indiscretions do to others?  

But when we continually face the rabid dogs, consuming fires, and snares of this world, are we wrong in wanting justice while crying for mercy regarding our indiscretions?

We should be someone that values justice, applauds, if not assists in, repentance and restoration, but treats someone with mercy when that true repentance is exhibited.

And remember that Satan is the master of lies.  It is easy for him to pretend to repent.

It takes concern, observation, and love for our fellow man to find the difference in the lie and the repentance.

Yes, my wife gave me some food for thought.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory