Therefore we also have as our ambition to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  2 Corinthians 5:9-10 HCSB

If you were to take a moment to look at your life right now, would you say that you are getting what you deserve? There is a Medicare commercial with Joe Namath and he encourages people to call their hotline to be sure that they are getting what they deserve.

If I really got what I deserved, it would scare me to death. It’s easy for us to look at what others do and talk about the punishment that they deserve. But what about what we deserve?

I am a sinner and so are you. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are human beings, it’s what we do. But as humans we like to categorize sin into little sin and big sin. I could do an entire blog on that and perhaps I will in the near future, but the bible tells us that sin is sin. In James 2:10 we are told that whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. So, if you sin, you sin. Now Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. So, what I richly deserve is the death penalty. However, Romans 6:23 also tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, to recap here, we are all sinners and for our sin we deserve to be put to death. But the good news is that God offers a get off death row free card. He offers us a way out of what we deserve. Through His mercy and grace He sent His son so that we could have eternal life and not perish (John 3:16).

We all deserve to be on death row, but praise God we have a chance at being pardoned. The only problem is you have to choose to be pardoned. You have to choose to draw near to your Lord and Savior when He calls you to salvation. You have to choose to trust in Him. You have to choose to stay close to Him and ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit. He never forces the wonderful things He has to offer on any of us. We must choose to walk with Him.

So if you look at your life today, are you sitting around thinking that you deserve a life much better than the one you have? You might want to think again. I would love to tell you that life is all lollipops and rainbows, but unfortunately the ugliness of sin steps in. Our sin brings God’s wrath and God’s judgment. There will come a day when each and everyone of us will stand before the Great White Throne of Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). When you stand before His throne, will you get what you so richly deserve? Will you be thrown into the lake of fire, or will you be welcomed into the pearly gates of heaven? We all deserve the lake of fire, but we can choose God’s loving mercy and grace. We can choose to accept the forgiveness that He has to offer.

When my life isn’t going so well I don’t ask, “What did I do to deserve this?”, because sadly I already know. But I also know that even though I am a sinner that I love the Lord and I have committed to live according to the purpose that He has called forth for me so I know that even the really bad things will work out for my good (Romans 8:28).  I know that He has good planned for me (Jeremiah 29:11) even though I don’t deserve it.

My prayer for you today is that you never get what you truly deserve, but that you have the good sense to accept the free gift that Christ offers. I pray that you turn to Him and trust in Him and allow Him to cleanse you from your sin. I pray that when you stand before the Great White Throne of Judgment that God will say that your sins have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west and all have been forgotten (Psalm 103:12). This can only happen if you accept Christ and all the goodness that He has to offer before it’s too late. This can only happen if we truly repent and strive for righteousness.

Have a great day!