When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with Him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." Luke 7:4-5 NIV
What do you "deserve" from God? Does your good behavior warrant His immediate attention? Does your church attendance record dictate that He perform for you? Should your position in the community determine your position within the Kingdom of God?
Have you ever known someone who expected God to bless them, because of something they had done? I see it all the time. Well, if I am to be honest with you, I have felt that way at times in my own life. I mean, you do enjoy reading these Mustard Seeds, don't you? Shouldn't God bless me for doing them?
It is interesting to me that this Roman centurion went to the elders of the Israelite church to seek out the Jesus whom he had heard about. This Roman, who probably followed Roman gods, went to another faith to seek help for his friend. When the elders take the request to Jesus, they insist that the centurion "deserves" Jesus' help, since he was such a good centurion. When Jesus does heal the man, He does it not because of the man's service, but because of the man's faith.
This is an important principle of God that we need to understand. You and I are not blessed because of who we are, or what we have done, as much as we are blessed because of Who HE is, and What He has done. Can you sense the difference? Yes, God does reward us for faithful service, but that is done because He is a loving God, not because we are anything special. The specialness in us comes only from our relationship with Him.
In fact, the Bible says that we "deserve" death because of our sins, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus! Praise Him today for not giving us what deserve, but instead giving us what we don't deserve!
