THE UPPER ROOM DEVOTIONAL 27TH JULY 2025, SUNDAY MESSAGE
Read The Upper Room Devotional 27th July 2025 written by Trudy Rankin (Victoria, Australia)
TOPIC: Justice and Mercy
Today’s Reading
Matthew 20:1-16
But [the landowner] answered, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.” – Matthew 20:13-14 (NIV)
One day my grandfather told me we were going to our family’s land to pick “ground apples.” We picked up thousands of fist-sized rocks and threw them into the back of a pickup truck. It was hot, dusty, exhausting work. The next time my grandfather suggested we pick ground apples, I suggested maybe I should get paid for it. From then on, I was paid an hourly rate for every job I did. Fair is fair.
Then I read today’s scripture story in Matthew 20, and I found it confusing and unfair. I thought the people who worked all day should have been paid a lot more than the people who only worked one hour. But in time I realized that this story is about justice for the all-day workers and mercy for the part-day workers. The all-day workers got paid what they had agreed to. Perhaps the part-day workers with a lower wage would have been distressed and unable to afford food.
I now understand that justice and mercy are two sides of one coin, and that coin is God’s love. Micah 6:8 says it best: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Today’s Prayer
Loving God, may we remember that justice and mercy go hand-in-hand and that one without the other creates imbalance. Amen.
Thought for the Day
Today I will treat others with justice and mercy.
Prayer Focus
To cultivate mercy
The Upper Room Devotional 27th July 2025, is a daily devotional magazine published in more than 30 languages and 100 countries around the world. The daily meditations are written by readers of the magazine and others interested in sharing their faith experiences through writing—both laity and clergy, published authors and new writers. Read More