“Justice and Mercy” by Doug Fincher

“I was shown mercy....” I Tim. 1:16

September 12, 2022 - Mother believed in “applying the board of education to the seat of learning” as we ten children were growing up. She was always blessed with plenty of hedge bushes near our house whereon grew many switches.

A few years before she died, I asked her why I got so many spankings growing up. Sternly eyeing me, she replied, “Young Man, you didn’t get near as many as you deserved!” And she was right. We never got spankings for the many watermelon and sugar cane patches we snuck into… nor for the eggs we swiped from our neighbor’s hen house when we played hooky.

I’ve gotten a good many spankings from the Lord along the way, too. Unlike Mother, He saw even my secret sins. But like Mother, He hasn’t given me near what I deserve. I deserved justice.

But He gave me mercy.