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Broken and the Blessed Week 5, Day 3

by David Joynt on February 07, 2017


DAY 31

HOSEA 6:6

Jesus’ tough critique of Israel’s leadership was directly related to the mercy issue. On two occasions he quotes Hosea 6:6—”I desire mercy and not sacrifices.” The implication is that worship and sacrificial rituals must be accompanied by merciful treatment of others to be genuine and authentic. Worship of God implies honoring His character and values, including His mercy. Leaders either help their followers or hinder them, and Jesus felt many leaders in His day created so many minor regulations for others to follow that they made the devoted life impossibly complicated for ordinary people. In so doing, they acted against mercy.

 

Are you a burden lifter?  

 

FAMILY TIME:

What family rule do you find hardest to follow?

Discuss.

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: blessed, mercy

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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