A dear friend of mine sends out a weekly devotional and this weeks really hit home for me and I wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!
You De-serve ItShane Burton
November 14, 2005
Matthew 10:34-39
“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp
knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and
mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you
for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you
prefer father or mother over Me, you don’t deserve Me. If you prefer
son or daughter over Me, you don’t deserve Me. If you don’t go all the
way with Me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve Me. If your
first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself.
But if you forget about yourself and look to Me, you’ll find both
yourself and Me."
McDonald's tells us that we "deserve a break today." Come on, you know
you've earned it. You've slaved all day and night, at work, then at
home with your family. You DESERVE a break, don't you? You've washed
the clothes. You've carted kids around the globe to soccer games.
You've scoured the sink, washed the dishes, mown the lawn, washed the
windows, changed the oil in the car, and that was all before you left
for work! You've even taken time out of your schedule to stop and do
something nice for your spouse. Don't you DESERVE a break today?
There are so many advertisements on TV that tell us that we deserve
things. We deserve a BMW, a new house, a long, tropical vacation, a
decadent slice of cheesecake, the finest restaurant reservations, a
piece of chocolate, a new wardrobe, that latest CD, new shoes, new
grooves, a new plasma TV, and a brand new surround-sound DVD player to
go with it.
We deserve it...don't we? We're faithful to our employers for years
and so we feel we deserve a raise or a promotion. We're faithful to
our spouses and we feel we deserve gifts and affection to show their
appreciation. We're faithful to our children so we feel we deserve a
vacation away from them. We're faithful to our churches so we feel we
deserve recognition for what we do. We're faithful to God so we feel
we deserve to be shown His blessings in a physical way.
We feel we deserve...and we're right: we de-serve.
To de-serve would be the opposite of serving, wouldn't it?
As soon as we feel we deserve something, we have stopped serving. And
you know what, I'm guilty as charged. There have been so many times
when I just feel like I'm givin' and givin' and everyone around me is
takin' and takin' and I throw my hands up in the air and tell
myself...and God...that I deserve a break! I lay aside my plans and
desires for those of my spouse in an effort to serve her, but then I
tell myself that I deserve something in return for my sacrifice! I
de-serve God...I de-serve my spouse.
I have stopped serving the moment I feel deserving.
Jesus tells us here to look to Him instead of looking after ourselves.
As soon as we put our self first, we have made everyone else
last...including Jesus. No, especially Jesus.
Our plans and our dreams our always secondary to God's. Our wants and
desires always take a back-seat to God's wants and desires for His
Kingdom. As long as we feel we deserve to follow through with our
plans, follow our dreams, fulfill our wants, and satisfy our desires,
we are de-serving God. Jesus even goes so far as to tell us that if we
put our family before God, then we de-serve Him. Now that's radical
discipleship! He calls for a commitment that is absolute. And really,
there can be no absolute commitment without a total surrender. Either
we surrender all that we are and all that we have, throwing our hands
in the air and crying out “Help, Daddy!” Or, we end up in the same
useless, self-serving circle of distrust, disappointment, and
disintegration. It’s Jesus first or not. We put Jesus first or else
we de-serve Him. Period.
And so, as I sit here typing on this cold, November day, I'm asking
myself: who am I de-serving? And how am I de-serving them?
I invite you to do the same with me today. Take an inventory of who or
what you are de-serving. Are you de-serving your spouse? Your
children? Your friends? Co-workers? Ministry team?
Are you de-serving God?
If we serve God first, we deserve Him. If we put ourselves or others
first, we de-serve Him.
