Good

One of my favorite attributes of Jesus is his wit. I admire how in one sentence He tells the Rich Ruler that no one is good except God and then lists the commandments. Now, giving the ruler the opportunity to answer, the Rich man responds with how "good" he is.

^{Luke 18: 19}"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"

²¹"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

I have to say, I probably would have responded in a similar fashion. It is all too easy to bring my religion to a list of good and bad. These are the rules to follow and I follow them, that must earn me some points, right?!! Me, you, the rich ruler...Do we earn a special place because we are "good"? I think when he went to Jesus he thought he had already done everything necessary to inherit eternal life. I have known people in my own life that assume they are inheritors because of their goodness. Do you assume?

Christ came and died for us because we aren't good. Plain and simple. There isn't anything you can do to change the fact that without the sacrifice of His son, you couldn't be in relationship with God. The rules and commandments remind us that we truly are unworthy, all of us. We need God and we needed Christ's sacrifice.

^{Galatians 2:16}know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

Fool

Proverbs 27:22

Though you grind a fool in a mortar, 

grinding him like grain with a pestle,

 you will not remove his folly from him.

I like to believe that I have a lot of right answers. I have been known to give out my "good" advice to anyone willing and maybe a little unwilling to listen. Often times I can tell some great ideas on good family and good marriage.  Sometimes, I think, "Why don't they just do what I say?"

Oh, what a fool am I. 

How often do I do what I do because I haven't listened to the very thing God has told me to do?

Some days, I wonder why He puts up with my disobedience. I wonder why He puts up with my control issues. I wonder why He puts up with all the things I claim to give to Him and take right back. It is an amazing reminder to remember that He sacrificed for me. Not because I am a "know it all" but because I am a fool, created in His image, needing His redemption. Only He has the power to change my foolish ways into His ways. 

Please continue to pray for Dale C