Three times within the space of four sentences, the Israelites are reminded, "It is not because of your righteousness that God is giving you this land." Then Moses goes on to remind them of just a few of their low-points.
So often I'm tempted to think when God is blessing me that it has something to do with my "righteousness." Or, conversely, when things seem to be falling apart, "Lord, what am I doing wrong?" Clearly, the Israelites struggled with the same misguided notion.
Even worse than attributing our own blessings or difficulties to our behavior, we are prone to look on other believers with judgment - wondering what hidden sin led to their tragedy or illness, or what kind of spiritual superman is that Christian businessman who is so successful?
This kind of thinking is wrong on so many levels. First, if we think we are being rewarded for our "righteousness," we must have overlooked the scripture that clearly states, "There is none righteous, no not one." Romans 3:10 (and stated in various ways in many other books of the Bible).
Second, if we think we are being punished for our unrighteousness, we make Christ's death on the cross purposeless. If I'm still paying for my sin, then Christ died for nothing. The nations being driven out were reaping the fruit of rejecting God. As followers of Christ, the hardships God allows in our lives are not punishment for our sin because those sins are covered by Christ's sacrifice.
Finally, this line of reasoning is all based on Earth-bound thinking. It places supreme value on the temporal, rather than the eternal. God is primarily concerned about our eternal blessings, and many of those come as a result of a lack of blessings on this earth (or at least, an ability to keep those blessings in their proper perspective).
John Piper tweeted in 2012 (and our pastor has quoted often since then), "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them."
I would add that even the three we are aware of, we probably don't understand His purpose for doing. His ways are above our ways. That's why He is God and I am not. That's why this life requires faith.
So often I'm tempted to think when God is blessing me that it has something to do with my "righteousness." Or, conversely, when things seem to be falling apart, "Lord, what am I doing wrong?" Clearly, the Israelites struggled with the same misguided notion.
Even worse than attributing our own blessings or difficulties to our behavior, we are prone to look on other believers with judgment - wondering what hidden sin led to their tragedy or illness, or what kind of spiritual superman is that Christian businessman who is so successful?
This kind of thinking is wrong on so many levels. First, if we think we are being rewarded for our "righteousness," we must have overlooked the scripture that clearly states, "There is none righteous, no not one." Romans 3:10 (and stated in various ways in many other books of the Bible).
Second, if we think we are being punished for our unrighteousness, we make Christ's death on the cross purposeless. If I'm still paying for my sin, then Christ died for nothing. The nations being driven out were reaping the fruit of rejecting God. As followers of Christ, the hardships God allows in our lives are not punishment for our sin because those sins are covered by Christ's sacrifice.
Finally, this line of reasoning is all based on Earth-bound thinking. It places supreme value on the temporal, rather than the eternal. God is primarily concerned about our eternal blessings, and many of those come as a result of a lack of blessings on this earth (or at least, an ability to keep those blessings in their proper perspective).
John Piper tweeted in 2012 (and our pastor has quoted often since then), "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them."
I would add that even the three we are aware of, we probably don't understand His purpose for doing. His ways are above our ways. That's why He is God and I am not. That's why this life requires faith.
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