God Takes No Bribes

If only I had read my Bible more or gone to church then the day would have gone better. If only I had given more money then God would have been pleased with me, After a day that has been particularly challenging, have you ever thought that if you had prayed more then God would have given you a better day. Or perhaps if you had … then God would have altered the circumstances to help you. Do you see your actions and hope that they will be good enough to please God? Deut. 10:17 says that, “God shows no partiality and takes no bribes. ” Reading your Bible, praying, giving to the Kingdom of God, and being with God’s people are good things to do and they help us to be stronger Christians. However they do not build up or earn points with God. God takes no bribes. All religions except for true Christianity are legalistic or law centred. We get from one level to the next by our own good works. But true Christianity says that we will never be good enough on our own to please God. We need to have God’s help. Then, only as we respond to the help that God gives through the work of Jesus Christ is God pleased. The temptation to think that we should do more, give more, pray more or be better to cause God to be pleased with us, causes us to trust in ourselves and our efforts. It pulls us away from needing Christ and from responding to the help of Jesus. When we trust in what we will do, then more and more, we become we become enslaved by the expectations that we set up and we miss enjoying the wonderful grace and mercy that God shows to us. Take a moment to check your heart and actions, in what ways have you been trying to bribe God? In what ways do you need to choose to trust in God’s help, instead of your own attempts to earn something from God?