Over the past week, have you had any good days or bad days? I had a rough night with a child who wouldn’t sleep on Sunday night and we both struggled the next day on 2 hours of sleep. So, Monday was kind of a ‘bad’ day as I was also trying to figure out what to do to improve the situation. The work day was not horrible, so in that regard, it was kind of good, but sometimes the bad tends to overshadow the good things, or vice versa on other days. This child, who I love dearly is doing some things that frustrate me to no end, and leaves no doubt that we are all sinners. How about people? Do you think some people are inherently good or bad? Do they remain stuck in that category forever, or if a ‘bad’ person does something good for you, does that change things? How often do you judge the deeds of others, or your own as good or evil?
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. Mark 10:18
We tend to label days, things, people, countries, etc as either good or bad or neither, depending on the circumstances surrounding our experiences and events related to them and how it makes us feel. We can have a bad experience with someone of another ethnicity or from another country, and automatically think that everyone in that country is the same as that one person we interacted with. That’s kind of silly, right, but we seem to do it. There is a town that I pass through often that is frustratingly slow to drive through, and I’ve encountered a few jerks along the way. I sometimes find myself with the impression of people from this town in a negative light, based on a few experiences there, some with people who may not even live there. I see this in High School and college sports as well, where one school bad mouths and condemns people from a certain town, or who are fans of a particular team. When you think about it, isn’t that almost nuts to do?
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Job 13:15
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
No matter how good or bad we have been in life, we are all still sinners. The Good News is that a Good God offers us forgiveness from what we have done, no matter how good or bad it was. There is some common thinking among a lot of religions and even among professing Christians that if my ‘good’ deeds outweigh my ‘bad’ deeds through my life, God will accept me into heaven. The bad news is that our own good works, no matter how much, can’t earn us a ticket to heaven. That kind of negates the need for a savior and is pretty subjective…does it take 1 or 12 more good deeds to outweigh the others and qualify? The only hope is for a Savior to cancel our bad deeds, sins, and debts, because we can’t do it ourselves. Do you trust Him to pay your way?
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
Friends and brothers, none of us are good, but there is a good God who compels us to do good, regardless of how we feel, how our day is going, or what has happened to us. God is good, when I feel bad. God is good, even with so much wrong in the world. God is good, even when my life feels like it is falling apart. God is good, even when my prayers are not answered. God is good, even though my health if failing, God is good, even when other treat me wrong. God is good, even when those I love get sick and die. God always has been, is, and will be a Good God. May we rejoice in that!
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
Yours in Christ,
Clark
