What is good and what is not
Martha Olawale
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good…” Genesis 3:6
It feels good to keep gulping bottles of cold, sweet sodas on a hot summer day instead of drinking flat-tasting water. We can throw caution to the wind at the moment because all that matters is that it quenches your thirst and satisfies your throat. However, the consequence and price of doing so might be costlier than the first gulp's satisfaction because of the content's effect on your health. The story of creation introduces us to the human gravitation toward momentary pleasure in place of long-term consequences.
If we think about the intricacies of being human and how we know how to live and navigate a complex world; eat, sit, walk, rest, sleep, talk, cry, and dance, we’ll agree that buried within each of us is the nature of God and the power of the knowledge of good and evil. The entirety of our world hangs on the balance of this truth, which tilts to either side in all situations. Our soul responds to how we’ve nurtured it; when it’s Godly, it will always embrace good as defined by the life of Jesus.
I’ve been asked, “How do you know?” How do you know God exists? Why do you believe Jesus is Lord? How do you know you’ll go to Heaven when you die? How do you know there is Heaven? How do you know what is good and what is not? These questions are wrapped up in a simple language you don’t need anyone to interpret; take a moment to allow your redeemed soul to answer them because it speaks the dialect of Heaven. Trust me, a soul surrendered to Jesus knows its maker’s voice and can decipher what is good and what is not.
God made man in the likeness of Himself and made us co-creators in a universe created by Him, and with that comes responsibilities and consequences. A simple inclination that God is anything but good goes against His core attribute and who Jesus is. God’s definition of good is whole, while man’s definition of good is fragmented and relative. God is always good, regardless of our shortsightedness and misgivings, and how we see it does not reduce His wholesomeness. He entered a formless, dark, empty world and brought light and order. He called the things which were not into existence (Romans 4:17). It’s as simple as what is good is God, and what is not good is not God, but it takes a heart surrendered to Jesus to know.
