Deserve
I’m sure thankful that I haven’t got what I deserve over the years. I’ve done stupid things over the years and somehow escaped the consequences. I’ve gotten away with some pretty reckless behavior. I’m certainly not proud of my past, but it does have a way of sneaking into my future. The Lord knows me like no one else and He still loves me and pours out His grace upon me. I don’t quite understand the heights and the depths of that level of love. I sometimes struggle with loving myself when I do, say or think evil thoughts.
As I read from Isaiah, you can feel the depth of sin that Israel had committed against the Lord. He was beyond frustrated with them. He was about to take out the wicked and protect the godly. Check this out….
10 Tell the godly that all will be well for them.
They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned!
11 But the wicked are doomed,
for they will get exactly what they deserve. (Isaiah 3:10-11 NLT)
If the Lord gave me what I deserve, I would have been taken out several years ago. I don’t deserve the life I have, but I’m so grateful for the forgiveness and grace that has been gifted me because of Jesus. When I read the old testament, I feel the judgement and the justice of God. When I read the new testament, the grace that God drips from the pages. I’m so thankful for grace because I’ve been a regular recipient of it over the years. I didn’t learn much about grace until a few years back when I recognized my need for grace.
I’ve also noticed that people who are self-righteous are often judgmental and legalistic. They simply don’t realize their deep need for grace. I was among that self-righteous group for several years of my life and ministry until I realized how much I needed grace. My righteous and “good living” was a joke compared to goodness of God. I was still very short of the righteousness that God calls me to. He made a way through Jesus to cover the gap between my righteousness and His righteousness. I no longer get what I deserve, I get rewarded instead. Instead of being the outcast from faith, I inherit the whole thing! I deserve death, but instead, I get life!!
Pressing On!
Dwayne