“The Lord your God will force those nations out for you. But don’t say to yourselves, ‘The Lord brought us to live in this land because we are such good people.’ No, the Lord forced those nations out because they were evil, not because you were good. You are going in to take their land, but not because you are good and live right. You are going in, and the Lord your God is forcing those people out because of the evil way they lived. And the Lord wants to keep the promise he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
“The Lord your God is giving you that good land to live in, but you should know that it is not because you are good. The truth is that you are very stubborn people!”
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
God sends sunshine and rain for those who do good and those who do evil (Matthew 5:45). Sometimes we have to be reminded that our righteousness is through Christ and nothing we've done to deserve it. Often, we see people attempting to pat themselves on the back for serving God. While this is meant to exhibit to others a sign of their religious supremacy, it actually signifies something else. God's Word is clear about that. Without Christ, our good deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). None of us are righteous, not one (Romans 3:10). If we could be "good" enough, Jesus would not have had to go to that cross. He went because He loved us and knew we could never be good enough for our Holy Father.
It is almost comical how after all the miracles God performed in the wilderness while delivering Israel, they still whined like babies about going back to Egypt to what they said had been a better life. Moses had to really talk God down several times on this issue. With the exception of God's written Word and Jesus Christ, God's Word made flesh dwelling among us, not much has changed since then. We sometimes act spoiled and ungrateful. There are also many who attempt to exude an attitude which screams "holier than thou" and therefore more deserving of God's blessings. While those who don't behave this way cannot even judge those who do this, we can remember that God sees it all and will handle it. God calls each of us not to be this way. God calls for our humility and love for our fellow man. He calls for service to others not superiority over others, as we follow Christ. Anything outside of loving Him totally and sincerely loving each other is out of His will.
We who believe in Jesus are standing in the shadow of our Savior's righteousness. We don't have to worry what any other person thinks about us because we answer to a Higher Source of scrutiny. God does something we as humans cannot do. He examines hearts and minds for motive and intent. That, my friends, is all inclusive.
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