"You are good and do good; teach me your statutes." -Psalm 119:68
What does it mean to be good ...to do good? You or I don't need to reference a dictionary to get the meaning of "good". I believe the real question may be ...."who" is good? If being good consists of moral excellence, or righteousness, then in all honesty, I am only marginal; even by our own human standards. If doing good is an outward representation of those same qualities ....then I am hit and miss there as well. Don't get me wrong... I ain't a bad guy! Just ask anyone besides my wife!!
Lately, in life, it seems that I have either (a)been under attack by the evil one (yes, I do believe that he prowls around, like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour) or (b)being tested to prove my own resolve and / or endurance. In either case... I am a work in progress ...to put it in a self-defending sort of way. But does this qualify me as all good ...or all bad, for that matter?? Again, depends on whose standard of "good". By the way... if I got to quantify "good" ....it would go something like this...
good (adj.) - depending on how Steve feels, and / or acts, on any given day. - fluctuates with... Steve."
But the psalmist said, of the Lord, "you are good and do good." So if the Creator created, then only He can quantify, and qualify, what is truly "good". This means, also, that nothing He does is bad! Now I have your attention don't I? We don't say it out loud ....but some really "bad things" occur, that I sure know "I" didn't cause, or even allow. What about the folks in Japan this week?? Did the earthquake / tsunami occur because they are bad? Would it not have occurred if they were good, or did good?
The sovereign God decides "good", and by His own standard ..."none is righteous, no, not one;" (Romans 3:10). Either we quantify "good" on God's qualification or we follow our own quantification, and qualification, of good ...or we follow another human's definition and example. If that is you.... how is that "really" working for you?
Whether we define "good" as we go ...and most certainly if we define "good" by God's standard ...then we have a serious problem in the realm of "good". Refer to
Romans 3:9-18. But if we read on, in
vv. 21-22 we see God's response to our own lack of "good-ness".
Be good! Do good! But be wise enough to know that we fall short.. even at our best!! Follow God's standard of good. It will do more than merely give us a right perspective in this life! It will sustain us for eternity.
