Entitled

5The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

7"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "
Luke 17:5-10

When I graduated law school, I believed I was entitled to a good job, because, well, I had attended school for 7 years, studied hard, and passed the Bar exam. I deserved the security of a good job. By the world's standards, a good job was my reward for working hard in school.

Feelings of entitlement totally creep in my life. I start thinking like, hey God, I’m being obedient, so when do I get my reward? It’s so hard to distinguish being obedient to God from the world’s focus on entitlement for doing the "right" things."

Jesus makes it pretty clear that we are servants to the end. And unworthy servants at that. So I go to church, so I participate in an outreach, so I try to have meaningful relationships with people at work, so I try to listen for God’s call…so what! Living out my faith in my life does not entitle me to anything. This is my duty. We are all called to full time ministry. So why do we think we deserve more for sometimes doing what we should be doing anyway?