“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”  Job 1:21-22

I have heard others say and have heard on television shows and commercials the statement, “You deserve to be happy” or some other adjective that describes something favorable that should happen to an individual.  Whoever said that folks are entitled to be happy?  Our U.S. Constitution gives citizens the right to pursue happiness, but not the “right” to be happy.  There was a commercial a few years ago in which a lady in her 60’s said that she had a long life ahead of her.  How did she know that?  I suppose she was of the mindset that she was entitled to live a long life.

There are folks today who think that because past generations endured suffering at the hands of others, then the current generation should be “entitled” to a recompense for the hardships of those long gone.  We live in a litigious society now where lawsuits are filed constantly because someone received unfair or harmful treatment.  Some of these are legitimate, but many are what is termed “frivolous”.  Some folks spend their time trying to get something for nothing, particularly those who scam others out of their hard-earned money.  I have had people come to my door and tell the most pitiful stories, one bad thing after another that they have had to endure, and I would give them some money to get rid of them.  However, later I would find out that they went to the doors of neighbors and told different pitiful tales.  The police say there is nothing they can do to stop them unless the homeowner feels threatened.  I have decided to do what Peter and John did for the man begging at the temple gate.  They gave him the gospel.  They also healed him by the power of God (Acts 3:1-11).  I certainly can’t heal anyone, but I can tell them about One who could show them a better way to live rather than trying to cheat and lie to people to get money.  Telling them about Jesus will either convict them or cause them to walk away.

The only “right” that I can find in scripture is the “right to the tree of life” which is given unto those who obey God’s commandments, with the main commandment being that of repenting of sin and believing in Jesus Christ for salvation (Revelation 22:14).  This right gives those who are born again permission to enter God’s heaven.  The fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12) tells us that to honor one’s father and mother may allow the child to live a long life, but it is not an ironclad guarantee.  Proverbs 22:6 tells us to train up our children in the way that they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.  Again, this is not a guarantee, but rather a godly principle that does not ensure that the child will not wander away from the Lord, but that he or she will have the truth of God’s word within and will hopefully return to his or her Christian upbringing and repent and believe on Christ.  A child reared in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) will likely be more inclined to follow Christ than one who was reared by unbelievers, but there have been children with Christian parents who walked away from the gospel and never returned.  James 5:14 calls for those who are sick to call the elders of the church for prayer and anointing with oil, and God will raise them up.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean on this side of heaven.  When my husband was ill, men from the church came to the hospital, prayed, and anointed him with oil, but his complete healing came months later when he passed away into glory.

Job was a man who was a good man.  God said so (Job 1:1).  But God allowed him to suffer at the hand of Satan things that I would say he didn’t deserve.  He lost everything.  His wife asked him how he could keep his integrity, and that he should curse God and die.  Job replied, “…shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”  There was a lot that Job didn’t understand about God, but he did understand that all of his blessings had come at the hand of God, and that God had every right to withdraw those blessings.  Job confessed that he came into the world with nothing, and he would leave the same way.  Some folks come into this world expecting life to give them all they desire, that is, all the material goods and wealth that they desire.  They don’t understand that the true riches come from a relationship with Jesus Christ

What it all comes down to is that the only thing that men and women are entitled to is hell because of their sins.  However, because of God’s grace, He made the way to be forgiven of sin and reconciled with Him through the suffering and death of His only Son, Jesus Christ.  If anyone was entitled to all that God possessed, it was Jesus, yet He gave His life in an excruciating execution that He didn’t deserve for all of us who did deserve eternal punishment.  We are not entitled to salvation.  It is a gift of God out of His wonderful grace, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.