(Ezra 3:11 KJV)
“And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid”.
Friday, 1st December
THE DEFINITION OF GOOD
Psalm 92:1 KJV
“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High”.
How do we define good when the Bible has said all our self-righteousness summed up together, is like filthy rags beside God? Filthy rags here refer to the menstrual cloth of the women of old, so you can imagine how low our ‘so-called goodness or righteousness’ is regarded in the sight of God. God is so good and righteous that anything called good falls so very short on standard, in comparison to His own goodness.
Hence, we are left with no goodness or righteousness, but for the righteousness that He gave us upon the death and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. As such, we are called the righteousness of God in Christ; 2Corinthians 5:21. We are righteous because of what Jesus did for us. He put His righteousness on us as a gift, and not by our works. Therefore, I am God’s righteousness by grace.
But then, God taught us to be good as well. Remember the rich young ruler who called Jesus “good master”? And Jesus said, “why do you call me good? There is none good except God”. True, there is nothing good in man. But God gave us an insight on how to be good; and that way is through THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE. Awesome! Don’t bother to analyze why thanksgiving is a good thing; you will never be able to wrap your mind around it. Man has never been able to thank God enough you know?
-The fact that you have been using the same lungs, kidneys, heart and all other organs of your body is a miracle.
-Sleeping and rising each day is like dying and waking up, and this has happened for 365 days in your life multiplied by your age. Only God could be responsible for such a feat.
-What’s more? Even the very things we have not seen God do for us, are yet part of His goodness to us, because in His time He makes all things beautiful.
I don’t know about you, but as far as I am concerned, the definition of goodness is thanks and praise to God. To do otherwise is wickedness and ingratitude.
Receive grace to be good in the eyes of God today as we thank and praise Him in Jesus Name.
Action Points/Prayer
i. Make a list of what God does every day for you, that you hardly notice and thank Him for them.
ii. Think and count all the things He had done in years past, that you may have forgotten, and begin to thank Him for them all over again in the way you have never done before.
iii. Practice thanking Him several times a day from now on. Let “thank you Lord” become your new slang.
Nugget
We are righteous because of what Jesus did for us. He put His righteousness on us as a gift, and not by our works - Be thankful for that.
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