“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.”
Deuteronomy 9:6 (NIV)
The problem of spiritual pride in God’s people is not new.
Spiritual pride in Christians at Parkdale and in the Quinte area is revealed in Deuteronomy 9
as an old problem.
as an old problem.
It reveals itself in the words we speak to ourselves - surely we are too wise to speak them out loud- like the Pharisee did to the tax collector in our Lord’s story. We read that story and think “What a fool- he should have kept his mouth shut.” Yet the problem is in our hearts and our minds- it is an inward problem -we experience God’s blessing, and we realize the depth of His love for us, and we think it is because of who we are – forgetting who we really are.
Moses wants the Israelites to realize who they truly are - a stiff-necked rebellious people - remember your history - remember your propensity to disobey, to rebel, to worship false Gods, to disobey God because you don’t trust Him. Moses wants them to truly glorify God by acknowledging that the blessings they were receiving, were coming to them in spite of them, not because of them.
Do we understand that our blessings are in spite of us - not because of us?
Do we understand that He chose us because of His love, not because of our righteousness?
There was only one human who fulfilled all righteousness before God.
There was only one human who God was well-pleased with.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Run to Him, live your life in Him and thru Him!
Let's change the conversation with ourselves - let us continually tell ourselves we are blessed in spite of our true self and only because we are hidden in Christ.
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