Luke 1:57-58
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

Elizabeth gave birth to a son, just as the angel had said (1:13). From the wording of this verse, it seems probable no one had known about Elizabeth’s pregnancy. So when the neighbors and relatives heard the Lord had shown His great mercy to her, they rejoiced.

News that Elizabeth, an old woman who had been childless all her life, had given birth would have astounded everyone. They would have considered this God’s mercy on her because children were considered to be blessings from the Lord. In her old age, God had taken away Elizabeth’s barrenness and had given her a son. This was cause for great rejoicing.

“Mercy”
It seems like such an old word; an old quality, as well. Like a store owner handing a crying kid a piece of counter candy; before the strip-mall era. Or like a doctor taking time to talk to a patient; before the new health care era.

Today, efficiency is the keynote, mercy the forgotten quality.

But where God is worshiped and honored, mercy may still be found; in the close call that could have been tragic, in the phone call that lifted your spirit, or as for Elizabeth here, in the fulfillment of a dream.

Look around today for moments of God’s mercy to you.

Be God’s channel of mercy for someone else.

Surprise someone with this quality which has been all but forgotten in the rush to get more done.