“I Don’t Deserve”
We cry, “I don’t deserve this!” Perhaps we are right. Maybe, our lot in life is unfair. We often expect things to go wrong; but things often go wrong. We want life to be easy and to be comfortable, but we experience pain. We cry, “What did I do wrong? This is not fair.” Right! Life is not fair. No one ever said people would treat us like we feel we deserve. No one ever said life’s events would go our way. Life has always been unfair!
Did Joseph deserve to be sold? Did he deserve to be lied about? Did he deserve to be forgotten after a good deed? No, but that was his life.
Did young Daniel deserve to be shipped off to Babylon? Did he deserve the lion’s den? Did he deserve to be hated by his peers? No, but he was.
Did Paul deserve to be stoned? Shipwrecked? Beaten? Left for dead? Unjustly imprisoned? Did he deserve the scars? No, but that was his life’s story.
What about Job? Elijah? Jeremiah? James killed by Herod? John the Baptist? Innumerable good people who suffered unjustly, who were not treated as they deserve? So, if we become a victim of injustice, resist whimpering and whining. Remember, we are in good company.
Look around, do people deserve what they get? Does that crippled man deserve that limp? Does the blind man deserve darkness? Do all the sick deserve their illness? It is true, some may be suffering calamity as a direct result of their chosen lifestyle. Surely not all!
The disciple assumed that calamities were deserved. Job’s friends agreed. When Jesus encountered the blind man, His disciples asked. “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” No one sinned! What did the man at the gate of the temple, born crippled, do wrong? Nothing! He did not deserve to be crippled. Many are born poor and never have a door of opportunity to be otherwise. They do not deserve poverty.
On the other hand, maybe we do deserve what we get (Matt. 7:231-23). They protest their punishment, “We did good! We do not deserve this! “Jesus responds, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” They got what they deserved.
We say, “I don’t deserve this” because we don’t comprehend that sin is exceedingly sinful. Our sin does not look so bad. “Beer drinking is not really bad.” “Fornication is no big deal.” “I just want to…, that can’t be so bad.” “Though I do these things I am not a bad person.” We conclude: “I don’t deserve to be punished.” We dismiss how bad sin is! Hell shows us how bad sin is. Hell shows what we deserve.
One thing is certain, Jesus did not deserve the cross! Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him.”
One last look. “I don’t deserve this.” Close the complaint line! We are rich and prosperous, live in fine homes, eat sumptuously, and have plenty of money. And we deserve all this? We are surrounded by friends, family, and brethren in Christ. We enjoy “All spiritual blessings in Christ.” We deserve all this? Jesus died to free each one of us from the guilt and consequence of sin. We receive abundant mercy, forgiveness, and love from God. We deserve all this? We deserve to be a “son of God” and “joint heir” with Jesus? We know we don’t. Yet, we eagerly accept it all! I don’t know about you, but I am sure thankful I don’t get “what I deserve.”
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