Stiffnecked People

Deuteronomy 9: 4 -6  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.
Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

I am a stiffnecked person.  No, literally, today my neck is locked up on me and I can not turn my head to the left without a great deal of pain.  I am stiffnecked.  I had to chuckle when I read these verses that I had written in my journal some weeks back.  Of course then, this is what I wrote:

This is a good picture of the fact that God did not save me because I was worthy, righteous or upright in heart.  He saved me because of His mercy!

But today, I have a stiff neck.  I often get stiff necks because a nerve gets pinched and causes this to happen.  Now, as I read this verse, it brings a new meaning to my stiff necks.  It is a physical reminder to me of the fact that God saved me because of His mercy, not because of anything I have done to deserve it.

Dear Father, Thank You for tangible reminders of Your love each day, even if some of them are physically painful.  It brings new meaning and purpose to my troubles.  Amen.