February 17 Treating Cause and Effect with Caution

Deuteronomy 9:6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

A couple of thoughts here: the first is that if it was because of our own righteousness, we would have nothing. We don't even know how to define righteousness personally. Oh, we may be able to come up with some theological definition, but to personally define it accurately is impossible. We start out with a flawed body and mind, flawed by sin. Our very decision making apparatus is so flawed that we, I think, many times cannot separate righteousness from sin. We think we are making right decisions, but we cannot even see all the implications of that choice, from our human perspective.

Christ made us righteous by assuming our sin debt. From a spiritual and eternal perspective, we are clothed with Christ's righteousness. However, in this life, we wrestle with right living, with making godly choices, with learning how to live as though dead to sin's power in our lives. I don't know about you, but I fail in that battle too often. Sometimes I am quickly aware of my sinful choice; other times, I confess, I have been so deceived by the evil one that I don't even recognize early on the mess I have made by my choices. So, I don't know about you, but there is not way that my righteous living is sufficient to deserve the blessings of God.

THEN, I think about Smith's words as he paraphrases Moses' warning to the Israelites: The more they prosper, the better they eat, and the finer their houses, he warns, the more danger there is that they will forget God....they will arrogantly make the wrong connection (between success and their own efforts.)

Boy, is that ever true in this country generally; the more we have, the more we need. I guess that's why in Matthew 19: 24 we find these words, And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, because the rich man does not believe he needs anything. It occurred to me as I typed those words that we neither realize how rich we are in this country, nor how blessed we are that God allows challenges into our lives.

It is when we are challenged, when we hurt or are tried in some way that we recognize our need for God. He loves us that much! He wants us to know the blessings that are ours in him - eternal blessings at that -that we would miss completely trusting in our own success and material welfare.

We call out to God when we hurt, we beg him for relief, to take away the pain, never realizing that maybe we need the effect of that pain...For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son....how that must have hurt!! both the Father and the Son, but the effect was salvation made available for us. Oh God, help me to remember that when it hurts, you are lovingly at work.