“Come on, go ahead, you deserve this!”

With this sentence, advertisements try to persuade us to buy that new phone, take that expensive holiday, or indulge in something we may not otherwise have done. Our friends and family do the same: “Wow, you deserve a rest!” or “You deserve to be happy.”

But that word “deserve” often rubs me the wrong way. What makes me deserving of any good thing? Maybe I deserve to win a race when I practice hard, but isn’t the talent something that I received? Isn’t good health a gift from God? Isn’t the will to do it (the discipline and the perseverance) granted rather than manufactured by me?

But what about basic human rights? Yes, we have been created in God’s image and therefore are worthy. We have a right to life, and to live it securely. We should be free to choose our viewpoint about anything, associate with whomever we want, and do whatever we choose to do, as long as that freedom does not infringe on the basic rights of others. But even these basic rights were not earned by us; they are granted.

One could argue that you at least deserve fair pay for your work. That is one of the basic human rights, and I don’t disagree with that. I just want to emphasize that our capacity for work is also given to us.

What I am getting at is that we should think less about what we “deserve” and more about what we receive freely by grace. And then our thinking should culminate in gratitude. Our hearts should overflow with praise and thanksgiving to the One who freely grants us all good things: life and breath, friends and family, success and wealth, joy and peace, and hope.

And when things don’t turn out the way we thought we “deserved,” let’s remember that God knows what we truly need. Our character is more important than our comfort, and if a certain circumstance builds our character, let’s thank God for the necessary training to become stronger and more mature. Our holiness is more important than our happiness, and if hard things happen to us, let’s draw closer to God and thank Him for the reminder to find our happiness in Him and nowhere else.

Whenever I win a race (nowadays mostly just my age category!) I give the glory to God. And when I get injured, I accept the discipline and the lessons that come with that. It makes me think of some lines from a song we sometimes sing in church:

Every blessing You pour out I turn back to praise And when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say: “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

At the end of this year, I have much to be thankful for. I thank Him for every happy run, game of soccer, cricket, or paddle. For every cup of coffee with a friend, and every shared meal. For every blog post, article, or poem. I also express my gratitude for failures, for pain and loss, of which there was a lot this year.

How do you see this issue of deserving? Please comment.

These are just a few images featuring flowers that I took over the years.