by Brad Jolly
In last week’s blog post (read here), we saw that David challenged us to, “Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!”. Psalm 34:8
We learned that David wanted us to discover for ourselves what he had learned, which is that “the Lord is good”. This week we will see for ourselves how we can draw the same conclusion that he had.
To start, let’s define what God’s goodness would be toward us:
- God truly loves us
- God wants us to experience His wisdom in our daily life
- God wants us to know Him intimately through abiding in Him
- God has His best at heart for us
God truly loves us
How do we know God truly loves us? Well, God tells us over and over in the Bible.
- John 3:16 says that, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. “
- 1 John 4:9-10 tells us, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. “
- Revelation 1:5 says that, “All glory to him (Jesus) who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.”
- Romans 5:8 tells us that, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. “
God is love, and He has demonstrated to us how good He is by loving us enough to send Jesus into the world to die on a cross and pay for our sins so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life and a relationship with Him.
God wants us to experience His wisdom in our daily life
Since God is all-knowing, and He made us, He knows what is best for us according to the plans He has for us.
- God tells us in 1 Cor. 1:30, “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.”
- In Proverbs 3:5-6, God tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. “
- Finally, God wants to give us His wisdom. James 1:5 tells us that, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”
God knows that we don’t know how to navigate this life without His help and guidance. Because He is good, He tells us that we can ask and depend on Him for wisdom to live our lives before Him.
God wants us to know Him intimately through abiding in Him
God is not a distant God; rather, He wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him. This is what He means by abiding in Him (that vital connection to Him in which we commune and trust Him moment-by-moment).
- In John 15:4-5, Jesus says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
- Again, Jesus tells us in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
This life-connection to Jesus allows us to know Him and to walk with Him and to know His heart and ways.
God has His best at heart for us
- Romans 8:28 tells us that, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
- Ephesians 1:3 says, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”
God has both blessed us in Christ and works everything out for the good because He cares for us and has His best at heart for us.
Your life might not be the easiest at this moment, but God wants to remind you that He is good, that He loves you, that He offers His wisdom to you, that you can know Him intimately, and that He has his best at heart for you. If we examine the truth of His word, look at how He has blessed us so much, we can testify like David that He is good. I know that I personally can. How about you?