God Doesn’t Call Us to Do Good Things

That sounds like the words of a fool. Aren’t the 10 commandments rules to help us be good. Aren’t we told that the Devil is bad, and God is good. Yes, that is all true, but when we talk of doing good, we are keeping score. I was struck by the truth of this quote, “One of the greatest snares is the number of good things we might do. Jesus Christ never did the good things He might have done, He did everything He ought to do because He had His eye fixed on His Father's will and He sacrificed Himself for His Father.” You see, when we are focused on doing good, it is our works, not our worship. When we are doing what we ought to do, it is what naturally comes forth. We read in Matthew 6, "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” It is who you are, not what you do, that God looks at. Who you are dictates what you do! In Matthew 25, we see a picture of the final judgement. Jesus separates the sheep (righteous) from the goats (condemned). Jesus tells the faithful, “Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” They ask Him when they saw Him and helped. His response? “The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” They weren’t keeping score. They didn’t do it for the accolades. They weren’t trying to earn anything or impress anyone. They did it because it was the right. Faith leads to worship that bears action. Father, the world wants to keep score and check off accomplishments. Instead, we give You our hearts. Amen