I deserve better than that

 

James 2:13

What would your life be like if you got what you deserved?  We have all heard someone say, I deserve better than that; it may have been when your children forgot to call on your birthday, or your husband forgot a special day, and the list keeps going. We are a culture of people with many “I deserves.”  Many of us never give much thought to the giving of mercy because we have not experienced the need for mercy in life.  And yet if for some reason we needed mercy we would deserve it, or would we?

Shall we address the first statement; “What would your life be like if you got what you deserved?”  We are told by many in our government that a person deserves to own a home to live in, no matter if they have the ability to pay for it or not, or what about cell phones, yes, our government will give you one because they believe you deserve one, and the list goes on.  Many a teenager believes they deserve better parents, and if you look at how our culture exchanges mates in marriage, over 50 percent must believe they deserved someone better than the one they entered into a covenant with before God and man.

Where did we get all these rights, and a better question is who has the power to take them away, and if you lost all your rights would you desire mercy or judgment?  Jan and I went to church on Saturday, now that not normal, we were celebrating Easter, and on Easter many of us reflect on the act of love that God showered down on mankind, by taking our place, making our payment, canceling our debt.  Has that act become an (I deserve) or have you pondered the action of love and rejected it because it is so far beyond what anyone like you would do for a people who rejected them.  It may come to you as a surprise, but I totally understand your thinking, it is very logical, you or I, or anyone else that has lived who is not totally insane, would allow their only son to die for people who were their enemies.  But then none listed above are God, and this may come as a shock, He is not like us, His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours, His love has no bounds.

As I ponder a love without bounds, my thoughts go to Paul’s account of boundless love in Romans 5:6-10, “While we were yet in weakness [powerless to help ourselves], at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of) the ungodly.  Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die.  But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.  Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life.”  (Amplified Bible)

Many years have passed since I’ve wanted what I deserve, I want mercy, not justice, and as a person who God has lavished His love, His grace, and His mercy, I must take to heart what James 2:13 speaks to.  “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.”  That is precisely what our Father in heaven did, His mercy, triumphed over judgment.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice