I deserve __________

 

If the words "I deserve" is followed by anything other than "to go to Hell" then I have not fully grasped the Gospel message that has been faithfully delivered to me. I don't even deserve a good day today, but I know that God has and will continue to shower blessings on me. I don't deserve them, I just get them. They're gifts to me and I do get caught up in the gifts at times and get my eyes off of the Giver, but that's for another post. I was thinking about serving other people both in and out of the church today and a thought struck me. I was wondering if the people I serve deserve the best I can do. I would like to think so because, as a servant, I want to please my master (who happens to be "others") and my master does deserve my best in all areas. But that lead me to the present dilemma. If they are anything like me (and they are as far as I can tell) they don't deserve to be served by me because, through my service, they receive blessing. I know this sounds kind of arrogant, but go with me on this one. Because they don't deserve you either.

So, in all manner of speaking, they don't deserve my best. They don't deserve the acts of service that I perform on their behalf. But - there is One that does. He has commanded me to serve and to continually lay my life down for my wife, children, and neighbor. He has entrusted me with gifts and talents and expects me to use them to their fullest potential. He is who I serve and the more I serve Him, the more I try to give Him everything He deserves, the more perfectly I will serve those around me. They don't deserve the gifts that I have, but He does. It just gets clearer and clearer to me that when I serve it is for an audience of One. And He is quite an audience, isn't He?

With all logical and philosophical inquiry aside, I need to make sure I am giving my all for Him. I don't deserve to be in His house and serve Him, but I find myself there. And I will sweep the flour that has spilled on the floor in His kitchen with all that I am.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

tightvnc keyboard mapping problem in Ubuntu 9.04

Image
I have been, off and on, having an issue with the keys on my keyboard mapping to the correct values when using the tightvnc client when paired with the vncserver vino in Ubuntu 9.04. I am not exactly sure what keyboard layout the client and server was expecting, but it seemed like every time I restarted the OS the keyboard mapping problem would come back and I would be at square one again. Well, I think I have found the workaround I was looking for . Hopefully this will help anyone else that is having this issue.
Read more

The manifestation of the "I" and the gift of self - Part 1

I am continuing my journey through Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body and I had never realized how body-focused the 2nd and 3rd chapters of Genesis truly are.  But then it all makes so much more sense when it was brought to my attention that the body we have been given in a manifestation of me, or to put it another way, the "I". And it goes beyond that still. Not only does it reveal me, but my body also reveals, in no small measure, the image of God. That is not to say that God is made of flesh like me as is depicted in so many Renaissance paintings. The old man in the sky is nothing like the God as revealed in the Bible. However, the love that God is, the holiness that he is, the justice he is, the righteousness that he is...all of it is shown to the world through my body. In a very real way, my body allows for others, and for me, to participate in the mystery (the hiddenness) of the image of God. That is by design; from the beginning.  If God is revealed in nature...
Read more

Let me learn what I need to learn

In the “I don’t know what God is trying to produce in me…” portion of the blog: I work across (not with) an incredibly loud person. We are in cubes and he refuses to use a handset when he is in a conference call…or headphones. Everything is done via speaker phone. Maybe his handset is broken? I don’t know and am too timid (read “interested in keeping the peace”) to ask him. Of course he shouts into his speaker phone as well when he talks. Now he even refuses to use a keyboard. He has a speech recognition program that allows him to speak to the computer rather than type. Good for him! Now we can all hear “Comma…open parenthesis…close parenthesis…tab…tab...tab…” Was it my sin or my parents sin that relegated me to this placement in the office. We all know the answer to that but man…it sure feels like I am getting punished for something.
Read more