Thursday, August 3, 2017
Acts 15:28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us ...
WHAT IS GOOD?
What an arresting expression this is! It comes from a letter written by the church at Jerusalem.
You see, our sinful human nature doesn't figure that way. Our human nature concentrates first on what seems good to us. From little on we know what foods we like, our favorite color is, our favorite television show. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having a favorite kind of pie, but for our sinful human nature, what seems good to us always comes before what seems good to the Spirit.
If it seems good to us that people who have hurt us should not find forgiveness too easily, then we are tempted to think that the Spirit of God is not fair. If it seems good to us that the wicked ones in this world should never have material prosperity, then we may judge God to be unfair when they seem to be getting away with murder, or cheating, or lying.
The temptation is first to decide what seems good to us, and then to see if the Word of the Spirit matches up. For many, it seems good that people should have some measure of good within them, or that newborn infants should have no sin, and when the Word of the Spirit doesn't match up, guess which opinion gets the boot!
How different in Christ's kingdom! First one sees what is pleasing to the Spirit, and then tries to match that. If it pleases God to let His children suffer for a time, the disciples rejoice to be considered worthy of suffering for the name of Christ, and consider it nothing compared to the glory which is coming in connection with Christ.
