You Owe Me

You owe me!
I tried to imagine what had been done that demanded payment.
Payment with an attitude of entitlement.

Do you have the money?
No, but you do!
If you don’t have the money to buy this, then you will have to wait.

The discussion seemed to be over something in the electronic department.
The desired object was expensive.
The mother was attempting to train her young child.

Attitude turned into demand.
Frustrated demand turned into a raised voice.
The raised voice turned into loud wailing.

Loud wailing over a THING!
I could still hear this child when I was on the other side of the store.
The mom was right not to give into the demands.

Training is a difficult thing.
Discipline takes time and perseverance.
Most of all it takes consistency even when giving in would be easier.

Older generations believed in the value of hard work.
You started at the bottom and you worked your way up.
You proved yourself along the way.

His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! (Matthew 25:21)

No job was beneath you; you were faithful in the small things.
You did what it took to earn your pay.
You were grateful when that paycheck came each week.

Often, during the Depression, that paycheck was brought home to help your parents.
There was a sense of gratitude.
There was pride in the fact that you could do your part.

You owe me, was not even an afterthought.
Hard work and gratitude went hand in hand.
There were soup lines at that time; there was no money to be had.

Hundreds of people were seeking the same position.
There was no place for a sense of entitlement.
There was only thankfulness that you even had a job.

When things got better, and jobs were easier to find, you could be more selective.
Higher education took the place of working.
The piece of paper given after four years was the trump card.

You owe me!
I studied hard; I took out loans.
I must be paid what I am worth.

Starting at the bottom and working your way up was a thing of the past.
That piece of paper entitles you to skip over levels.
That piece of paper entitles you to start a job for a certain amount of money.

Nothing less will do.
Your lifestyle has to keep up with the piece of paper and the salary you demand.
After a while, even your lifestyle needs to reach higher; needing to give a good impression.

It doesn’t matter that what you buy is on credit.
It doesn’t matter that you are living above your means.
Only appearance matters.

Smoke and mirrors.
Entitlement.
You owe me!

The children will follow the footsteps you think you covered up.
They will catch your sense of entitlement as easily as they catch the common cold.
They will learn to argue about the reasons they don’t have what they want.

Wait for something?
Earn the money to buy that thing they desire?
Get this now, and get the new and improved when it becomes available.

The Gospel smashes any sense of entitlement.
If anyone was entitled to ease, devotion, and worship, it was Jesus.
Jesus stood in the soup line, so we could have the soup.

Jesus took the menial position, the lowly position that we should have taken.
Jesus took on the very nature of a servant, for us. (Philippians 2:7)
Jesus went willingly to the cross; never once stating, You owe Me!

Jesus prayed and in the anguish of that prayer, He sweat drops of blood. (Luke 22:42-44)
Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me, yet not My will, but Yours be done.
Not an ounce of entitlement; just perfect obedience.

Often in the Gospels, people said those same words to Jesus.
If You are willing...
If You are able…

Jesus is willing.
Jesus is able.
Jesus laid aside everything that He deserved, for our sake.

Never once did Jesus say, You owe Me!

When the Spirit sears the truth of the Gospel on our hearts, we are cut to the core.
Never again will we be able to say, You owe me.
We did not get what we deserved; Jesus got what we deserve.

Gratitude smashes entitlement.
Thinking highly of HIM, makes us hesitant to think more highly of us.
Our sin put Jesus on the cross, but perfect Love held Him there.

We could never begin to pay Him the debt we owe.
That is why He paid the debt for us.
Jesus satisfied the wrath of His Father with His own life.

We owe Jesus.
We owe Jesus everything.

It is not, You owe me.
Rather it is, I owe YOU, precious Lord and Savior.
Sweet Jesus, I owe You everything!