Serving a Merciful God

I was reading out of II Chronicles for my daily reading the other day and I noticed something I had missed on my first time through the Bible a few years ago (this has happened many, many times). Read below:

2CH 30:18-20 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God-- the LORD, the God of his fathers-- even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary."

And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

The thing to notice in this passage is that God is a merciful, forgiving God. I don't mean that he isn't Just, but he is merciful. He is a God who, in his almost desperate attempt to forgive, sent his son to die for us on the cross. And here, years before he would send the Messaiah, he forgave.

God does not look down on us because we don't do something just right. According to this passage, he longs to heal. What a joyous thought!