I Only Want What I Deserve

I ONLY WANT WHAT I DESERVE

How many times have we heard that phrase - or something very much like it? "I want what is coming to me" or "I want what I am owed." Worse yet, how many times have we said that or thought it? In my case, I am forced to admit - waaaay too often.

We live in an age of entitlement. It is our right to say something, do something, or have something. No one has the right to tell us what to do. Our television screens, newspapers and magazines, and other media sources all scream out the message "Do whatever you like whenever you like." It's all about our personal rights - we should get what we deserve.

And we, as Christian women, buy into that philosophy. Oh, not deliberately. It creeps up on us very subtly. But it is there nonetheless. Many of us work outside the home, so we deserve to have a nice place to live, nice clothes, vacations. Many of us are "retired" and worked hard all our lives, so don't we deserve to be able to live comfortably in our old age? Many of us carry the entitlement attitude to our children. They have the right to a good education, etc. I think you can see where I am going.

And then I am pulled back by the voice of my Savior saying to me, if it weren't for my sacrificial death for you on the cross, you WOULD get what you deserve. Eternity in hell, separated from God, never having the opportunity to worship and praise Him in glory. Ephesians 1:7 tells us, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His glory." Because the result of my sin is death as I am reminded in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So the next time I am tempted to ask for what I "deserve" let me remember that what I deserve is death and a God-less eternity, but what I receive because of God's mercy is life and joy and peace and eternity with Him.

Thank you Lord every day of my life that I don't ever receive what I am owed, nut what I have been given.

Lynn is the Director of Human Resources at America's KESWICK; is active in her local church; and enjoys serving and encouraging others.