God Owes You

God Owes You
December 16, 2013
Isaiah 64:6  "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. . ."

Wouldn't it seem nice for a moment if God owed you a favor.  To make the scenario even better, you could maybe choose what it would take to pay off His indebtedness.  And you could determine the exact moment of pay-off, like when you think you need it most, when you've gotten yourself in a pickle.  Then you could receive something nice and feel guilt free for enjoying it; after all it was owed to you.

It is absurd, however, to think that the Lord would owe a human any amount of debt, whether in returning a favor or money.  But you and I act like the Lord owes us something.  We do good deeds and we keep score.  We obey the Lord's commands and have a running tally.  We give of our time and money, and have a detailed record to prove it.  While we will never outright declare the Lord owes us for any of this, we think it when we need a favor.  When we get into a pinch or a tricky situation, we pray to the Lord for help and then sit with a sense of entitlement because of all the favors we've done for the Lord.  After all, it's the least He could do for all we've done for Him.  It's time He makes good on those favors.  Maybe our giving to the Lord was with good intention, but surely He was noticing our efforts.  Surely He was keeping a tab.

To say this gently, the Lord owes you nothing.  The Lord owes me nothing.  The Lord is indebted to no man and will not be held hostage for the good you think you have done in your lifetime.  Anything you've done for the Lord should have been done out of the goodness of your heart.  If not, you should have kept it to yourself.  It's hard to do though, give without slightly feeling good about it, like you've made the score uneven in your favor.  I might suggest that anything good you or I have done was because WE owed the favor.  Whether we helped the needy or gave money at church, we have an obligation to the Lord for all He has ALREADY done for us.  If you've given anything, it was about time to return the favor.  The scales have and always will be tipped away from you when compared to the Lord.

It is easy to hope He might have taken notice of your passed deeds, especially when you're in need now.  Maybe He'll take it all into account.  The fact of the matter is, He wants to help you in your time of need, only He isn't going to base it upon the good you've done in the past.  The Lord isn't' going to weigh your good past when considering helping you in the present.  They are not correlated.  It is irrelevant to Him.  He wants to help you now and will consider your situation with MORE favor than you think you deserve.  If you demand the favor, don't expect Him to perform per your wishes.  The Lord never works like that.  He works in a way that is truly in your best interest, even if it means not pulling you out of that tricky situation.

So go ahead and do good deeds, only don't keep score.  And go ahead and ask Him for help when you need it, only don't ask when considering your spotless record (because it really isn't that spotless).

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ez 33:23, Rom 3:3-19, Rom 8:28, Rom 10:3-13