You Deserve It?

Spoiler alert…….this “you deserve it” concept is NOT based on scripture.  AT. ALL.  I believe as Christians we are called to seek God’s truth not the world’s feel-good concepts.  Some of you may already feel that I have stepped on your toes.  However, if you are truly seeking God’s will for your life, let’s seek Biblical Truth right here.

Let’s start with Job, you know the dude in the Bible that had all manner of bad things happen?  He was wealthy, had a great family and the enemy went to God and asked to shake his faith. Job 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

So, Job was this awesome guy.  He feared God and shunned evil, but if you go on and read his story, he looses his children and all his wealth.  According to our worldly minds, he didn’t deserve it, right?  I mean he was a great man.  He did everything right.  So, he deserved to continue being showered with blessings.

What about Mary, the mother of Jesus?  Did she deserve having to watch her son be beaten, spit upon, and hung up to die.  She was God’s chosen women to raise Jesus.  She was pregnant as a teen and had to try and explain to her parents, her fiance and the community how it was that she was pregnant.  Did she deserve that ridicule and suffering?

What about Jesus?  Did he “deserve” being mocked and beaten?  Did he “deserve” the crown of thorns?  Did he “deserve” to be crucified?

Now, what about your family member that had cancer or some other horrible ailment?  Did they “deserve” it?

We are so quick to ramble and repeat these modern day “feel-good” “prosperity-gospel” quotes, but how does it match up with scripture. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

You see, if you are a Christian, what you “believe in” is Jesus.  The Bible tells us Romans 6:23 ” for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”  We are sinners.  Jesus took what we “deserve” when He was on the cross.  Praise God that we don’t get what we deserve.  To “believe in what we deserve”, runs very closely with making ourselves into idols.  Society  teaches that we are to focus on ourselves, what we deserve, what we want.  Where in the Bible are we taught to be so self-focused?

When Jesus was in the desert, satan tried to tempt him by saying that satan would give Jesus everything that Jesus saw.  That’s how the enemy works.  He shows you all the worldly possessions and tempts you to want them.  But, remember what Jesus said to satan in the desert, Luke 4:8 “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Think about the people in the Bible: Noah, Abraham, Joshua, David, Ruth, etc.  Their stories were not filled with this “believe in yourself” “you deserve it” mentality.  Their stories were facing adversity in order to do God’s business and it was often difficult and thankless.  Ruth was the least selfish chic.  She stayed with her mother-in-law after they lost their husbands and wealth.  Ruth could have done something else that was better for Ruth.  You know, something she deserved, but she put Naomi’s needs first.  That’s God’s heart.

The “I, Me, My”, “I deserve it” mentality is not in God’s instructions for us.  Does this frustrate you or step on your toes?  I have had friends tell me that I didn’t succeed because my “deserve level” wasn’t high enough.  I have even had friends suggest books written by psychologists to “prove” this to me.  And, maybe, just maybe, there is some truth to it.  There, I said it.  But, hold on for a minute.  If satan had the ability to give Jesus all the world during that desert moment, don’t think for a minute he doesn’t have the ability to give you things here on this earth.  The enemy is the one fueling this “I deserve” “self-first” mindset in the world because he knows that he has taken the focus off of God.  So, yes.  You might just have higher success if you follow the enemy’s strategy to focus on what you think you deserve.  He can give you a taste of worldly success, but at what price?  How many others will you take with you, following the enemy’s lies?

Now, don’t get me wrong.  Success is great and God provides for us, but we don’t “deserve” it.  None of us is good enough.  None.  The Bible is plain about it. Romans 3:10 There is no one righteous, not even one. If that steps on your ego, it’s time to step off of your high horse.  Please take that with the Christian love from which it came.

The very idea that we are hearing the “believe in what you deserve”, “what you will attract” and the “self-first/self-love” concepts mixed in with scripture makes me sick and upset.  We have gotten away from reading the Bible in it’s entirety.  Verses are being yanked out of context and mixed in with the devil’s lies.   I hate to be the one to say it, but the enemy knows scripture better than a lot of Christians.  He knows how to twist it, turn it and add something to it to lead you astray.

Get your nose in the Word.  Let’s quick cherry-picking verses and start reading for content and context.  Reading God’s Word (not a devotional, not a book about THE BOOK) and spending time really talking to and LISTENING to God is the only way back to His Will for your life.  Not your will, not your passion, not your want, but God’s will for which he gifted and planned you.  God has given us grace and mercy for which we do not deserve.  Let’s get our hearts and minds back on that.  God deserves it!