And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31
I Want To Be Good
Goodness gracious there seems to be so much meanness around these days, doesn't it? In my little town in Mississippi, there was actually a hostage situation over the weekend. Seems like evil is seeping into the most unlikely places. A month or so ago the police had a man apprehended in the parking lot at the hometown grocery store where I work. One of the young men who work with me had to wait for the "suspect" (whom the police had down on the ground at gunpoint) to be placed in the patrol car before he could get in his car. Our young people today are facing evil all around them. It is disturbing to think of the influence all the evil will have on the upcoming generation. But as Christians we have to keep on praying for them and believing for the good; for we know the enemy is defeated. We are victorious through Christ.
At the same store, an older couple came through my line the other night who were raising their four-year-old granddaughter simply because evil had entered into the little girl's mom's life. They told me she kept them young. She was grabbing for candy even though the grandfather had told her, "No." He said, "I told you if you will be good, we will let you have an egg out of the machine." At this the little blonde-haired girl began to cry and say over and over, "I want to be good. I want to be good." It seemed as bad as she wanted it; she knew she couldn't do it.
The little girl desiring to be good, but only producing bad brought these scriptures to mind.
Romans 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
In the beginning, God saw that everything was good, but sin soon entered in. Now to be good is something none of us can do on our own. The little girl like Paul was being honest. The temptation of the candy was so great that even as bad as she wanted to be good to receive a reward for goodness, she just couldn't do it. None of us can be good on our own. For the Bible tells us that none are good. The only goodness within us is Christ Himself. We must daily resist evil and follow after the goodness for one day there will be a reward.
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Matthew 25:21
jbp