Entitlements

My morning devotional today was on ‘entitlements’. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Os Hillman addressed the ‘the world owes us’ attitude prevalent in today’s society – in a way that really made me stop, pause, and consider. People in our country ‘expect’ the best. Those things may come in the form of expensive homes and cars, educational opportunities abundant to all, jobs that pay well, spouses that adore us, kids that appreciate us, and health that will not fail. We expect fulfillment of our desires and instant gratification of our whims. Increasingly, we expect others (i.e., employers, family members, church, government) to be responsible parties in meeting all our needs.

Even the church can be a pleasure-focused, me-based institution. Many expect delightful music, great preaching and strict adherence to ‘the one-hour rule’. Those who don’t know the Lord and have never given of themselves to the church or to cultivating a relationship with Jesus sadly ‘expect’ to be embraced by ‘God’ and ushered into heaven’s gates. Even our prayers can be so ‘me’ focused that we miss the bigger picture the Lord has for us. How many of us really spend time asking our Father what we can do for Him instead of what He can do for us?

How unlike Jesus . . . "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!" - Philippians 2:8

While Christ clearly encouraged the significance of maintaining a balance between work and rest, mission and refreshing; He also promised that if we would follow Him and put Him first, He would meet every need and grant us our heart’s desire . . . Nonetheless; His expectations, His desires and His mind were always centered, grounded, and focused upon His Father. He gave no Biblical principal for retirement, but rather gave us a life-long commission. He practiced what He preached. The Word says, He came . . .

1. To reveal the Father (Matt. 11:27) "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

2. To serve and to be a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28) "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

3. To save the world (John 3:17; Luke 19:10) "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

4. To preach the good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 4:43) "But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."5. To bring division (Luke 12:51) "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division."

6. To do the will of the Father (John 6:38) "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."

7. To give the Father's words (John 17:8) "For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me."

8. To testify to the truth (John 18:37) "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

9. To die and destroy Satan's power (Heb. 2:14) "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil."

10. To destroy the devil's works (1 John 3:8) "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."

11. To fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

12. To give life (John 10:10,28) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full . . . I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

13. To taste death for everyone (Heb. 2:9) "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

14. To become a high priest (Heb. 2:17) "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."

15. To atone for sin (Heb. 2:17) "For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."

16. To proclaim freedom for believers (Luke 4:18) "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”

17. To bring judgment (John 9:39) "Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

18. To take away sin (1 John 3:5) "But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin."

19. To preach (Mark 1:38) "Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

20. To call sinners (Mark 2:17) "On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

21. To know who is true (1 John 5:20) "We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true – even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."

How does my life emulate the character of Jesus? He said that if I tried to save my life, I would lose it; but if I lost my life for His sake and the gospels, I would save it. He taught that to experience the fullness of life, I had to learn to give it away. He taught that if I would receive the child, the outcast, the unlovely in His name, I would receive Him. An entitlement mentality was simply foreign to Jesus. Let my prayer be . . .

Father, free us from the spirit of Babylon that says there is no one besides me. Give us your heart. Infuse us with your character. Fill us with your Spirit. Give us spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears that hear. Give us greater vision of the purpose and plan you have for us. Help us surrender. Help us humble ourselves and be obedient so that our selfishness and our entitlement attitudes can be put to death and we can offer ourselves selflessly to the work that you have uniquely gifted us to do. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.