so that sweet little boy that's sandwiched between his 2 big brothers often thinks he's entitled to anything & everything his brothers get/do. he wants to be big like them & therefore do everything they do. but for many things he's not quite old enough yet. i was thinking about that "entitlement" & how it annoys me when he throws a fit about the smallest thing that he doesn't get.
then i realized... this is Christians, this is the world. we whine about how we're not getting "what we deserve". & we're entitled to "so much more". & why in the world are we going through sickness & trials & loss? shouldn't we be able to have nice cars & houses & things? why is someone else getting those things & we're not? why has my life be so full of heartache & loss & devastation?
i'm entitled to more!!!
oh but we're not. we're not at all. just like amos... we brought him into our family & made him ours. if the Lord had not led us to adopt, he would still be alone in an orphanage without a mommy & daddy.
God has made us His!!! He's brought us into His family & has given us His name. where would we be apart from Him? alone & dying; we would have no one & nothing. we have life in Him & all our past & sins are gone! we're made new because of His life & death! hallelujah!
we actually deserve much much worse than we have been given. we deserve death & eternal punishment & separation from our Lord. that's what we "deserve". that's what we're "entitled to." so we rejoice in our trials & our joys! because everything is from His hand & all is for His glory. this life is not for our glory & what we can gain. we've already gained freedom from sin & death & we have eternal riches & worship to look forward to & to long for. & we keep our eyes fixed on heaven. He will not abandon us... ever!
we are working on amos's selfishness with wanting everything his brothers have... as well as jude & sammy's selfishness, & mommy & daddy's for that matter. ;) just one big sinful family learning to love our Father better, by His grace.
"but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. for by grace you have been saved through faith. and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
eph 2:4-10
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5 comments:
Gosh, convicting. I need to be reminded of this often, that I really don't deserve all those good things, at all. To learn once again to have joy in the simple fact that I've been adopted into the family of God, and that alone is everything. Thank you for sharing this.
i love these posts. probably my favorite. And not just because I'm adopting but because of the Truth proclaimed. also, I just want to steal those boys and give them a huge hug. so precious!
:)
Even if I am a teenager, those post makes me want to adopt when I will be married! Love your blog!
Have a nice day! :)
Love this. A great picture of our 'entitlement nature' and a good reminder that we don't deserve anything! Thanks :)
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