HOW TO GET EVEN
DAY 65: Do you ever find yourself unconsciously trying to pay God back for all that He has done for you? Perhaps you put more into the offering plate after some big blessing; or, if you are really serious, you volunteer to work in the church nursery. I confess, I have caught myself conducting a little quid pro quo with God. He did X for me, so naturally I will do Y for Him.
Maybe it is part of our nature not to want to be in debt to someone- even God. It's why we feel compelled to invite people over for dinner if they invited us, or buy them lunch if they bought. We don't want to owe anyone... it puts us at the disadvantage. Far better that they are indebted to us... even if we never intend to collect. That just feels better. I'll never forget the day I came home to find that one of my kids had made me dinner. "I did it," he said, "because you feed me everyday mom, so I owe you." He then proceeded to feed me a frozen TV dinner to pay me back. It was absurd to think one meal could ever equal the hundreds of meals I had provided to my child - not to mention that the meal he so generously gave me came from my own freezer. But in his mind, we were even.
He was right in one thing; he did owe me. After all, in every way my life made his life possible - period. Yet, try as he might, even the most gourmet feast would have been woefully inadequate as payback. My child had no possible way to make us even. More to the point, though, was that I had no expectation that he would or could. I served him because I love him. I gave at my own expense willingly, fully realizing there would be no repayment.
I see the same attitude from God as I read Psalm 50 today. Equally as ridiculous as a small child paying back a parent for making life possible, is a person thinking he or she could give back to God anything to meet His needs.
In this beautiful psalm, God shows His people how ridiculous it is to try to meet God's needs or pay Him back:
8 I have no complaint about your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.
9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.
10 For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for all the world is mine and everything in it.
There is nothing we can give to God that He cannot give to Himself. A man could offer one bull, but God owned it first, along with the cattle on a thousand hills. Anything we could bring to God, offer to God, or do for God, originates with God - and He could do it 1000 times over.
So then what response is there to God who gave everything for us, does everything for us, and has promised us everything? First, we have to accept that we are indebted to Him. We will never be even. Until we are at peace with that reality, we cannot give to God what He desires from us:
14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
15 Then call on me when you are in trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory. . .
23 . . . giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
God's life makes our lives possible. Through Christ we have it all!
How do you repay the One who forgives your sins and secures your eternal future?
I'm afraid a few days in the church nursery won't cut it. Nothing can pay that debt. Yet God is satisfied with truly thankful hearts. Incredibly, He also desires that our gratitude to Him will express itself by calling on Him even more, resulting in yet more praise as we give Him glory.
We can work in the nursery, give our money, show kindness to strangers as an acceptable sacrifice only because we are thankful that He has given us the ability and heart to do such things, not because for payback. Believing we could pay God back is like trying to feed God steak from His own cows and calling it a gift. It's absurd! Giving thanks and acting in thanks, "is a sacrifice that truly honors" our Father.
Today I am reminded that I am a debtor to the One who makes my life possible now and forever. I can never compensate God in even the smallest way. All I can do is offer my genuine sacrifice of thanks and go deeper into debt with each act of love He bestows. For that I proclaim...
. . . BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS A DEBTOR TO GOD!
Day 65 of 365
Numbers 7-9
Mark 13
Psalm 50:1-23
Proverbs 10:27-30
He was right in one thing; he did owe me. After all, in every way my life made his life possible - period. Yet, try as he might, even the most gourmet feast would have been woefully inadequate as payback. My child had no possible way to make us even. More to the point, though, was that I had no expectation that he would or could. I served him because I love him. I gave at my own expense willingly, fully realizing there would be no repayment.
I see the same attitude from God as I read Psalm 50 today. Equally as ridiculous as a small child paying back a parent for making life possible, is a person thinking he or she could give back to God anything to meet His needs.
In this beautiful psalm, God shows His people how ridiculous it is to try to meet God's needs or pay Him back:
8 I have no complaint about your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.
9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.
10 For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for all the world is mine and everything in it.
There is nothing we can give to God that He cannot give to Himself. A man could offer one bull, but God owned it first, along with the cattle on a thousand hills. Anything we could bring to God, offer to God, or do for God, originates with God - and He could do it 1000 times over.
So then what response is there to God who gave everything for us, does everything for us, and has promised us everything? First, we have to accept that we are indebted to Him. We will never be even. Until we are at peace with that reality, we cannot give to God what He desires from us:
14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
15 Then call on me when you are in trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory. . .
23 . . . giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
God's life makes our lives possible. Through Christ we have it all!
How do you repay the One who forgives your sins and secures your eternal future?
I'm afraid a few days in the church nursery won't cut it. Nothing can pay that debt. Yet God is satisfied with truly thankful hearts. Incredibly, He also desires that our gratitude to Him will express itself by calling on Him even more, resulting in yet more praise as we give Him glory.
We can work in the nursery, give our money, show kindness to strangers as an acceptable sacrifice only because we are thankful that He has given us the ability and heart to do such things, not because for payback. Believing we could pay God back is like trying to feed God steak from His own cows and calling it a gift. It's absurd! Giving thanks and acting in thanks, "is a sacrifice that truly honors" our Father.
Today I am reminded that I am a debtor to the One who makes my life possible now and forever. I can never compensate God in even the smallest way. All I can do is offer my genuine sacrifice of thanks and go deeper into debt with each act of love He bestows. For that I proclaim...
. . . BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO IS A DEBTOR TO GOD!
Day 65 of 365
Numbers 7-9
Mark 13
Psalm 50:1-23
Proverbs 10:27-30
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