“Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few.” – Deuteronomy 33:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 2, 2012): Deuteronomy 33

What is it that you deserve? We try to put up a front and pretend that we deserve much, but deep down the truth is something very different. I am convinced that, no matter how confident we may be on the outside, on the inside we are all children, scared to death that someone will notice that we have attained past what it is that we can actually do – that we no longer deserve what it is that we have.

It is the basis for the humorous Peter Principle. The concept behind the principle is that in organizations where advancement is based on achievement, the end result is that people will be promoted to the level of their own incompetence. People will be promoted until they reach a point where they no longer can do the job – and they no longer deserve what it is that they have. But it is not even just the Peter Principle that feeds our undeserving feelings. We know who we are – and all of things that we have done that should disqualify us from the good things of life. So we try to sneak through life and hope that no one notices.

Reuben had sinned. He should have received the double portion of his father’s estate. He was the eldest of Jacob’s son, the one who should have been responsible for the care of his father’s estate. But Reuben slept with one of the concubines of his father, one that had already given children to his father. He had committed the sin incest. And because of that decision, he had forfeited all that he deserved. And on his deathbed, his father reminded him of just that. His descendants would never achieve the heights that they might have originally reached for.

But as they enter prepare to enter into the Promised Land Moses pronounces a blessing over the descendants of Reuben. In spite of the sin of their ancestor, may the descendants of Reuben live and not die - may they never be few. The blessing was a request for the grace of God to reign in the lives of the sons of Reuben.

For everything that we might achieve, we need the God’s grace. We may not deserve it, but it is freely available to us so that we can have the ability to move into the future that God wants for us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 34