Unmerited - Devotion for 9/9/08

Unmerited – Devotion for 9/9/08

We all want to get what we deserve in life. I know I do. I remember having a job back in high school as a “sandwich artist” at a particular fast food place, and I always worked extra hard because I wanted to get what I deserve – which was more money. When I was in grad school, I would do all my readings (OK – most of them!) and study extra hard, because I wanted to get what I deserved for a grade, which was obviously an “A.” When I’m driving in traffic, I’m always willing to let someone merge into my lane, and then I feel like I deserve the opportunity to merge when I am in need. I want what I deserve.

This morning in my devotion time I read Ephesians 2:1-10, and I was convicted once again. In particular vv. 4-5 spoke to me today: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Even when I didn’t deserve it, He made me alive in Christ. Even though I still don’t deserve it, He has saved me by grace. I’m grateful to receive that which is completely unmerited. Thus God continues the pattern of turning my life upside down.

In my conviction, I am drawn to the prayer entitled “An Evening Prayer,” by C. Maude Battersby:

If I have wounded any soul today,
If I have caused one foot to go astray,
If I have walked in my own willful way,Dear Lord, forgive!

If I have uttered idle words or vain,
If I have turned aside from want or pain,
Lest I myself shall suffer through the strain,Dear Lord, forgive!

If I have been perverse or hard,
or cold,If I have longed for shelter in Thy fold,
When Thou hast given me some fort to hold,Dear Lord, forgive!

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee;
Forgive the secret sins I do not see;
O guide me, love me and my keeper be,Dear Lord, Amen.