Job 1:21,2:10
Naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
and naked I shall go back again
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord!
We accept good things from God;
and should we not accept evil?
Living in a country which has a huge emphasis on rights tends to foster a sense of entitlement. How many times to we pray and expect God to grant our wishes or eliminate our suffering? Don't get me wrong, we should pray for our needs and the needs of others, but it's the sense of entitlement that I'm arguing against. It's that attitude that suggests the God owes something to us.
But that's exactly backwards. We are so poor, that God sent his only Son as a ransom against our slavery. We couldn't pay that debt. We could never pay that debt. We owe something to God.
From today's Gospel reading (Lk 14:25-33)
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple."
It's not as if the world owes us anything anyways. ;-)
Posted by Bob at November 8, 2006 11:27 PM