LIFE UNDESERVED

 
“After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and terrible guilt—though You, our God, have punished us less than our sins deserve and have allowed us to survive...” Ezra 9:13 HCSB

As part of my reading, in what I write down on my “to do” list as “twiG” (time with God-twiG to remind me that I AM is the vine and little I is just a branch. I've got to be attached to Him to survive.) I read Ezra 9 and verse 13 stuck out. I was amazed and convicted. Amazed that someone had this attitude and convicted that I rarely do.

We had community group last night and were discussing how we struggle with believing that God loves us and I realized in thinking of this verse that true to myself I go from one extreme to the other so many times. Either I struggle with truly believing that God loves me. O, I know it in my head but how different my life would be if I really grasped how great His love is for me and for others-to see people as someone Christ gave His life to save. Doesn't that add more value to us all, not of our own merit but because of the price tag God put on us!

Or I act as though I know God is supposed to be loving me and He is not doing a good enough job. All my thoughts, in both extremes are “me” centered and not God centered. If I remain there I will never have an accurate view of Him or His love for me. I should be on my face with Ezra saying: “I deserve Hell and You have given me life!!”

At the end of the chapter Ezra says: “Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before You with our guilt, though no one can stand in Your presence because of this.”

Thanks be to God, because of the price Christ paid on the cross, if we have trusted in Him for salvation, we don't receive punishment and we can stand in His presence-not because of our own righteousness. We are as Ezra says-deserving more punishment and unable to stand before God in our guilt. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that if we believe in Him, we will not perish but have eternal life! We still will suffer consequences of our own sin and the sin of others. We live in a fallen world. But we live! Eternal life has already begun and we can walk day in and day out, moment by moment with our Redeemer, in, by and through this amazing grace!!!


O Father, help me to see how great You are, how great is Your love for me which would also bring me to see how full of sin and selfishness I am and cause me to fall on my knees in worship and thanksgiving saying: O Lord, You are righteous!! I deserve Hell and You have given me life!!

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