WHAT WE REALLY DESERVE

Advertisers say we deserve the "best"
And nothing less, you know;
They tell us of "things" that we need to have
That will help us make a show;

Those fleeting material things of earth
For which many seek and strive —
Power and money and houses and such
That say that we've "arrived".

And many, so many, have swallowed the bait
That old Satan has on his hook;
They're fully convinced they "deserve the best",
But that's not what it says in God's Book!

If we should get what we really deserve,
The "best" it would not be,
For we're each of us stained and marred by sin,
Corrupted, don't you see?

And the God who made us, who loves us still,
And by Whom we are given breath,
So hates our sin, yea, abhors it yet,
That, by sin, we are condemned to death.

Yes, what we really deserve is to die
And to go right straight to hell,
And there, but for the grace of God, should go I,
And there you should go, as well.

But God, in His mercy, sent Christ Jesus, His Son,
To die on a cross, pay the price,
So that we may truly gain what is best
By accepting His blood sacrifice.

It's not what we deserve to receive, my friend,
This great gift of eternal life
And a home in heaven, there to dwell with Him
In that place "where cometh no night",

But God, in His mercy and by His great love,
Sent His own Son to die in our place
That we may partake of the glories of heaven,
Saved forever by His marvellous grace.

Yes, all that we really deserve is death
At the hands of a God who is righteous and just,
But that which is truly the best can be ours
If in Jesus the Saviour we trust.

a. franklin staples

April 24, 1995

Copyright © 1995 by A. Franklin Staples