A WORD FOR TODAY, August 16, 2022
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, August 16, 2022
“He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5, WEB
I like chocolate. I really like chocolate. I think most of us would agree that chocolate is good. Chocolate tastes good. Chocolate makes us feel good. Some will even tell you that there are health benefits to chocolate. I have been in the mood for chocolate. As if I’m not always in the mood for chocolate! I usually keep a cup full of M&Ms on my desk within easy reach. As I wandered the aisles at the grocery store, I looked at a lot of options. I picked up packages and read the labels and put them down. Candy. Cake. Ice Cream. Fresh made. Frozen. Make at home. On my way home I considered stopping at a fast food place to buy a milkshake. I didn’t buy anything, not even M&Ms to put in my empty cup.
Chocolate is good, but we also know that chocolate is bad, especially the kind of chocolate that I really like. The chocolate that we like to eat has other ingredients, especially sugar. Those extra ingredients are what makes chocolate taste good and what makes us feel good. The chocolate cake has flour, oil, sugar. The icing has butter and sugar. Without those ingredients, the chocolate cake would not be quite so good. When I read those labels on the candy, cake, and ice cream, I see that I should not buy it because it just isn’t good for me. Oh, I do indulge, probably too often, but I’m trying to remember that while chocolate is good, it is also bad. Those days of indulgence are when I recall that even though chocolate is bad, it is also good.
Doesn’t that describe human beings? We are good, but we are bad. We are bad, but we are also good. One of the great mottos of the Reformation is “simul justus et peccator,” which means “simultaneously saint and sinner.” We are constantly reminded that though we have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, we are still sinners. We need Jesus every day. Sadly, I think we sometimes forget that we are also saints. We are good, even as we are bad.
I read an article recently that reminded me that the Bible begins at Genesis chapter One, even though we sometimes look only back to Genesis chapter Three. We begin so much of our understanding of our relationship with God with the fall in the Garden of Eden. But we should also remember that when God created everything else, He called it all good. After He created humankind, however, the Bible says, “God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” We were created good. We fell which is not good, but we are made in the image of God, and God does not lie. Everything He had made is very good.
It is because of this goodness that God did all that was necessary to bring us back from the darkness, to find us when we were lost. He sent Jesus to begin the work necessary so that one day we would dwell with Him for eternity once again in the garden He made for our home way back in the beginning. He sent Jesus to make things right, as they were meant to be. He sent Jesus to make us good, very good, again. It will take a lifetime, but the day will come when we will walk in the Garden once again with our Father, reigning with Him forever. He created us good, and by His grace we will be good again.
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